Let Love Lead the Way
by RnRfan629
Summary: Ross and Rachel have loved eachother in the past but the truth is they never really stopped. Will an accident finally make them realize how much they truly love eachother?
1. Chapter 1

_There has been an overwhelming amount of Joey and Rachel stories and I'm not liking that too much :P _

_My story is all about RnR!!_

_It is the continuation of TOW Home Study with Ross, Rachel and Emma at the park. Just so you know, everything that happens after this episode in the show does not exist in my story so there is no Paris or anything like that. I'm sure I'll have the birth of the twins somewhere in here but there will be no moving to the suburbs_

_Enjoy!_

--

"ROSS!" she screamed when she saw him hit the ground after knocking him over as she was swinging on the playground swing.

She saw him fall on his side and yelp in pain when his body hit the hard concrete. Once on the ground he continued to squirm, frantically running his hands all over his body, still afraid the spider was somewhere crawling on him. Rachel tried stopping her swing so she can try and help him but the swing started to twist and turn uncontrollably. This movement terrified her and she wasnt able to stop.

"Ross, help me!"

Ross lifted his head from the ground to see Rachel twisting every which way and her legs kicking in all directions. The fear in her eyes made him vacat his position on the floor and go over to her, completely forgetting about the spider that probably fled the scene several minutes ago. Stopping the swing from behind, she immediately jumped off.

"evil! evil!" she yelled pointing at the swing.

"Rach, your fine." he said, walking over to her and then placing both hands on her shoulders "Your hair didnt get tangled in the chain, did it?" he asked trying to hold in his laughter.

"That's it Ross! I'm never going on one of those things again."

"Dont be silly. You were doing so great," he encourged her, taking the place beside her.

"That thing almost tried to kill me."

"Stop it. It is an inanimate object. It did not try to kill you."

She was having none of it and simply rolled her eyes at him

"Just give it one more try."

"how about you go hold that spider over there" she said pointing at him

"WHERE?!" he yepled like a little girl, turning in circles to see if one was near him

"see, you still are afraid of spiders and I'm still afraid of that," she said referring to the swing.

This was ridiculous. He couldnt believe how silly she was acting over a childs play thing. Sure, he thought, some may think his fear of spiders was stupid, but the thing he fears could actually kill. KILL! Just thinking about it made him shake in fear but her fear was so irrational and he felt she needed to get over it.

Luckily he knew just how to do that.

"Come on, we're leaving" she demanded as she started packing up Emma's belongings.

Ross walked towards his newly one year old daughter who was sitting contently in her carriage watching her mother and father with admiring eyes.

"Awww, Emma. You dont want to leave yet, do you?" he asked shaking his head side to side.

Emma repeated her fathers actions and shook her head side to side.

"Stay," she said in her adorable baby voice before sticking a goldfish cracker in her mouth.

"Do you want to swing with mommy on the swings?" he asked again shaking his head but this time up and down. Emma started clapping her hands and looked at Rachel with her big blue eyes identical to her mothers.

"mommy, sings!!"

"I cant believe your doing this," she said under her breath but loud enough for Ross to hear

"how can you say no to that face."

Emma was giggling, reaching her hands out in front of her when she saw her mommy coming closer to her

"I cant and you know it."

She lifted Emma out of her carriage, cradling her in her arms.

"Come on baby, mommy will go with you on the swings," she whispered kissing Emma on her baby fine hair.

Rachel walked slowly to the swings, taking a seat on one of them and placing Emma securely on her lap. With one hand wrapped tightly around Emma and the other firmly holding onto the swings chain she began swinging back and forth. The second Rachel heard Emma laughing all of Rachel's fears dissappeared. She began to swing a bit faster, but not that fast since Emma was on her lap. Ross was just looking at the two of them sharing this special moment. He watched as Rachel's eyes never left Emma and she too started to laugh like she was alittle girl once again. Ross searched for the camera in the diaper bag and once it was found he grabbed it and began snapping away. Rachel continued to laugh with her daughter, kissing the back of her baby's head lovingly.

"Emma, look at daddy."

At the sound of her fathers voice, she looked in his direction and smiled. Rachel too smiled creating the perfect mother-daughter picture. After a few more minutes Rachel slowed down the swing with ease and lifted Emma from her lap

"go get daddy, Em."

Soon the toddler came waddling towards her father with much speed and Ross scooped her up in his arms.

"was that fun princess?"

She just nodded her head while nuzzling her head in his chest and began sucking her thumb

"it looks like someone's is getting sleepy," Rachel said, rubbing Emma's back up and down.

"let's head back."

Rachel agreed and noticed Emma had already fallen asleep in her daddy's loving arms. Ross bent over to put Emma in the stroller, strapping her in safely but when he got back up a shooting pain came to his side

"ahh" he said gripping his side

"are you okay Ross?"

"yeah, I guess I pulled a muscle when I fell from you brutely kicking me to the ground"

"haha, very funny," she said poking him in the side

"owww"

"oh my god. Im sorry. I thought you were teasing me. Are you okay?"

"yeah, I was only kidding," he said giving her a goofy smile

"jerk" she said laughing and shoving him to the side.

"hey, is that any way to speak to the father of your child."

"you deserved it" she said smiling at him. Adjusting the diaper bag on her shoulder she was finally all set to go.

"Let's go"

Ross grabbed the handle to the stroller in his hands and began pushing it with Rachel walking right next to him.

"I took some great pictures of you and Emma on the swings."

"yeah?"

"yeah"

She looked down and started smiling. Ross couldnt help but smile at her when he saw how happy she was.

He was so proud of her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes when he suddenly felt Rachel's hand on top of his.

"Thank you"

She spoke it so softly and was so sincere, it warmed Ross' heart the moment it left her lips. He looked down at her with a smile on his face

"your welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for your reviews. They really mean alot to me and I'm glad I'm not the only one who has the same opinion about all the Joey and Rachel stories :) I'm sure my next few updates is something that would never happen in the show but this is how I wanted my story to be.

**Disclaimer**: I forgot to do this before but...These characters do not belong to me, but to Bright, Kauffman and Crane Productions and Warner Bros

--

The loving family arrived back at Rachel's apartment 10 minutes later with Emma sound asleep in her stroller.

"I'm going to put her in bed," Rachel whispered quietly, trying not to disturb her baby.

"I'll come with you."

Rachel gently picked Emma up out of her stroller and walked into her bedroom with Ross following close behind. Once inside the bedroom, Rachel layed her daughter down in her crib securing the blanket around her tiny body. She laughed when she saw Ross grab her red T-Rex stuffed animal he had bought her and layed it next to her.

"would you stop forcing that thing on her," she said quietly.

"I think she's starting to like it more than Hugsey," his voice the same volume as Rachel's.

"you keep telling yourself that Ross."

They both shared a laugh and continued to look at their sleeping angel. She was perfect in every way from her red pouty lips and chubby cheeks that were always pink to her dirty blonde hair that was getting longer with each pasing day. They both admired the baby they created together and smiled when they saw her twitch slightly in her sleep.

"She's so beautiful," Ross said, breaking the silence that overtook the room for the last few minutes.

"I know." Rachel replied still in a complete trance while looking at her precious baby

"She looks more like you every day."

This statement brought a smile to her face as she turned her body slightly to look at Ross

"you think?"

"are you kidding. She's all you Rach," he said smiling down at her

"well, she may have my color eyes but she has your puppy dog look. She also has your mouth."

"yeah?" he asked beaming with pride

Rachel just nodded her head up and down and turned her gaze back to Emma. They both rested their hands on the side of the crib as they watched the rythmic breathing of their daughter.

"I can't believe she's already one. Soon we're going to have to get her a big girl bed," Ross whispered softly

"I know, I dont want to think about it."

"god, it seems like yesterday I was rapping Baby, Got Back to her."

Again, Rachel started smiling and Ross looked over at her to see it.

"what?" Ross questioned her

"no, nothing."

"what? why are you smiling like that?"

"no, no its' nothing," she said saking her head from side to side. Ross continued to look at her and saw the look on her eyes, knowing she was hiding something

"you still sing it to her, dont you."

"Nooo."

He knew the stretched out no meant that she was lying

"you do"

"okay, fine I do. She really loves that stupid song and it's the only thing that makes her fall asleep when she refuses to go to bed." she said trying to make a good agrument. "This is all your fault really"

"my fault?" he said placing his hand on his chest as he let out a small chuckle

"yeah," she said laughing "you shouldn't have sang it to her in the first place."

"hey it made her laugh," he said defending himself

"I know, I know. I'm kidding."

"I know."

They suddenly locked gazes and couldnt break away. That familiar feeling rose in the pit of their stomachs, something neither of them felt in quite some time. Something they knew that was always there and would never go away.

Something they have both truly missed.

"we should let her sleep," he whispered

"yeah."

She looked away from him, bending over the crib and brushed some hair away from Emma's face, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Ross did the same before both stepping out of the room.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Rachel asked making her way into the kitchen

"no, I'm good," he said taking a seat on the recliner.

He watched as she took a bottle of water from the fridge then taking a seat by the kitchen counter. He smiled when she started to scan through a magazine.

Typical Rachel.

Watching her just made him thing about something that had been bothering him for some time now. Eversince she moved in with Joey he felt like he was missing out on so many things of his daughter's life and it was breaking his heart. He wasnt even there the first time she started crawling and he didnt want to miss anymore important things in Emma's life. He felt him and Rachel have been getting along so well and spending time with her as a family today made him think even more that what he was about to ask was the right thing to do

"uh, Rach can I ask you something?"

"sure," she said turning around on the stool to face him. He was lookibng at her for a few moments but no words came out "Ross what is is?"

"umm..how has it been living with Joey?"

"fine I guess. Beside the fact him not sharing food with me and Emma, things have been great."

"so Joey doesn't mind Emma crying in the middle of the night when he has girls over?"

"Ross, what are you getting at?" she said raising her voice slightly.

"nothing, it's just lately...I've been thinking that maybe you and Emma should move back in my place."

"what?" she asked, a look of surprise spread across her face. This came out of nowhere

"I mean, dont you think Emma should be in the house with both her mother and her father."

"Ross, we tried that already and it didnt work out."

"yeah, but things will be different."

"no they wont Ross," she snapped at him slamming her water bottle on the counter. "Things will never change when it comes to you and me. You will never change."

"Stop being so stubborn," he said matching her tone of voice, getting up to stand beside her.

"Look at us right now." she said pointing at the two of them "We're arguing and I dont want that around Emma. I know how that feels and it is horrible for a child to see their mother and father fighting all the time."

"how do you know we'll be fighting all the time," he said trying to calm his voice

"it's us Ross," she said simply, standing up and looking right in his eyes.

"I want you and Emma to move back in"

"no, Im sorry Ross but I cant. It just wouldn't work."

"Rach, I want to be able to put Emma to bed everynight and see her beautiful face every morning when she wakes up. I want to be there for her when she gets scared in the middle of the night and hold her hen she falls asleep. I dont want to miss out on anything when it comes to her. Please."

"Im sorry, but I cant."

"fine." He left her side and made his way to the door. "I'm taking Emma to see Ben tomorrow. You know her brother and my other child I dont have the the pleasure of living with."

"Ross..."

It was too late. He was already gone.

Ross didn't even bother staying around when he heard her call his name. He didn't want to hear it. Soon he was out her apartment building crossing the street to his place. He couldn't believe how she was acting and just wanted to hate her.

But he could never hate her.

He wanted to so bad but it wasn't possible. SHe just wanted her to understand. She had no idea what it's like for him, not to live with his children, the people he loves most in the world. She never and will never have to experience that and that bothered him even more. She gets to comfort Emma in the middle of the night when she has a bad dream and she gets to make her breakfast first thing in the morning and be the first one to see when she does something new.

He was so angry at that moment he had no idea what was going on around him because all he could think about was Rachel and how stubborn she was being. He was crossing the street, his thoughts still consumed by Rachel and Emma when he heard the sound of a car honking. He turned his head to the side, only to see bright white lights coming right at him.

Then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks again for the reviews :) Hope you guys like this chapter!

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Rachel ran her hands through her honey colored hair, taking a seat on the couch. Why did everything have to be so difficult with Ross? They can never have an easy relationship with one another and she could never understand why. Things would be going great between them but then one of them would always say something stupid and they would blow up at each other. She couldnt do that to Emma. She would not have Emma living in a home where her parents were always arguing with her in the middle. She thought right now this living situation with Joey was the best solution and that's why she couldnt move in with Ross again. If he could only understand where she was coming from.

But no!

When it came to dealing with them one of them would always run and they never talked about things and get stuff out in the open. Ross was great at keeping his feelings to himself. That's why she moved out in the first place. He was not honest with her and she couldnt understand why. She leaned back on the yellow couch and closed her eyes just thinking about her current situation. Her thoughts were soon interrupted when her three friends came bursting through her front door causing her to open her eyes

"Shhh, Emma is sleeping." she said already warning them not to wake up her sleeping child

They were just staring at her with unreadable expressions plastered on their faces that were completely foregin to her. The one thing she did notice was Monica was crying.

"Mon, what's wrong?"

"Ross..."

Monica couldnt even finish what she was saying as she buried her face in her husbands chest. Rachel slowly took her place beside her best friends and watched as Joey and Chandler tried to comfort Monica

"guys, what's going on?" she asked her voice already trembling. Joey was the one to answer her question, his voice cracking as he spoke.

"Ross was in an accident"

...Her heart stopped...

"what? what, what do you mean an accident?"

"We just got a call saying he was taken to the hospital. They didnt say what kind of condition he was in, only that he was hit by a car and he was taken to Mount Sinai," Chandler tried answering her, his voice shaking the whole time.

Rachel brought her hand to her mouth, her cheeks already stained with tears

"oh my god. This cant be happening. This cant be happening", she repeated, shaking her head side to side. She was in a complete daze. "I..I...I need..I need to get Emma."

Chandler released his grip from Monica and went over to Rachel

"me and Joey will stay here with Emma. You and Mon go over to the hospital and we'll meet you there when Emma wakes up. Phoebe is already on the way."

"oh, o..okay."

She grapped Monica's hand tightly in hers and they quickly left the apratment. Rachel couldnt even process anything at the moment. The second those words left Joey's mouth she went numb. She didnt even realize her legs moving, leading her out of the building into a yellow cab. All she knew was she had to get to Ross.. fast.

--

Monica and Rachel came barging through the emergancy doors of Mount Sinai Hospital and ran to the front desk.

"I'm Rachel Green and this is Monica Geller. We were told her brother was taken here," she said frantically.

"what's his name?"

"Ross Geller."

She began typing something on the computer and took a moment to read something on the screen.

"yes, he arrived 40 minutes ago and is stll in surgery."

Both woman's eyes widened as they gripped each other's hand tighter

"just take a seat and I'll tell his doctor that you have arrived and are waiting for any news."

"is he okay?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I dont know anything. Just take a seat and the doctor will see you soon"

"than...thank you." Rachel said quietly.

Monica and Rachel walked hand in hand as they took a seat on the uncomfortable hospital chairs. They didnt say a word to each other as they both stared quietly into space. Monica looked over at Rachel when she heard a muffled cry. Rachel had her face buried in her hands as tears fell onto her pants.

"This is all my fault. This is all my fault," she said over and over again, rocking back and forth.

"Rachel...stop that...this is not your...fault...okay." she whispered in between her own sobs.

"but it is" she screamed finally looking at Monica. Monica jumped slightly when she heard the volume Rachel spoke in. Rachel looked back down at her lap, her pants dampened from her tears as her chest heaved up and down. "this is all my fault. Me and Ross were arguing and then he stormed out of my apartment because I wouldnt do what he asked. He was so upset and probably walked right into the street without looking." She looked back at her friend, with her mascara smudged under her eyes "I dont know what I'll do if I lose him, Monica"

Rachel broke down completely trying to gasp for air as she contunied to sob. Monica embraced her, as Rachel clawed at her back hugging her tight, both crying on one another's shoulders.

"He's going to be okay Rach. He has to be"

They soon saw Joey, Phoebe and Chandler who was holding Emma come running through the double doors. When Rachel saw Emma, she wiped her tears away the best she could. She didnt want her daughter to see her like this.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Phoebe asked

"no, nothing yet. Come here my baby girl." Rachel held out her arms as Chandler bent over to give Emma to her. She leaned back into her chair, holding Emma tightly to her chest, brushing some hair out of her face and kissing the top of her head.

20 minutes later the group of six was still sitting in the waiting room. Phoebe and Joey sat next to each other, with Phoebes hands in Joey's which were now resting on his lap. Chandler sat next to Monica who had her head laying on his shoulder and Rachel had a sleeping Emma cradled in her arms. Rachel was about to close her eyes when she saw and older man walking towards them in a white coat. He kept getting closer and when she was sure he was there to talk to them she stood up from her seat with Emma still in her arms. When the rest saw her stand they all followed.

"Are you Ross Geller's family?"

"yes we are." Rachel answered.

"well you guys can try and relax. Mr. Geller is going to be just fine."

They all let out a sigh of relief at the same time and were able to breath again

"how is he?" Joey asked

"right now he is under a lot of medication. Mr. Geller broke his left leg and fractured two ribs. He also has a few cuts on his chest that needed to be stitched up as well as a cut on his head that needed a few stitches."

"When can we see him?" Rachel and Monica asked at the same time

"now if you like but maybe not all of you at once. Righ now, he is sleeping but the anaesthesia should be wearing off and he will be awake soon."

"Thank you doctor," Rachel said politely. The doctor smiled at them and left. "Do you guys mind if I go in first?"

"Im coming with you," Monica said and Rachel just nodded

"Can you guys watch Emma while she's sleeping?"

"Sure Rach," Phoebe said smiling warmly at her friend as Rachel handed Emma to her.

Monica and Rachel slowly walked to Ross' room and opened to door quietly trying not to make alot of noise. They both gasped at the sight before them both being on the verge of tears. Ross looked so pale and defenseless, it broke both of their hearts. He had a white bandage wrapped around his head and his leg was in a cast up to his knee. As they walked closer they could see the bruises all over his arms and face. They pulled up a seat on both sides of him and grabbed one hand in theirs. Monica brought her free hand to Ross' face, running it over his forehead and through his hair.

"awww, look at you Ross," Monica said softly trying to hold in her tears

"Thank god, your okay," Rachel whispered kissing his hand and closing her eyes, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

A small smile crept across Monica's face when she saw Rachel do this as Rachel continued to stroke his arm up and down. Her eyes darted from Rachel to Ross when she felt his hand move in hers

"Ross, sweetie?" Moncia said.

Rachel smiled when she saw him stir and open his eyes slowly.

"Mon?"

"yeah, sweetie. It's me Monica." Ross looked to his left and saw his sister smiling widely at him. He then looked to his right and saw the one person that could always make everything okay.

"Rach?" he asked with a smile.

"yeah Ross. It's me. How are you feeling?" she asked squeezing his hand in hers

"I've been better"

They all smiled.

"The last thing I remember is me walking across the street and then I woke up and I was being rolled out on a stretcher with the paramedics telling me everything was going to be alright. What happened?"

"honey, you were hit by a car when you were crossing the street" his sister explained. "you broke your leg, and a few ribs, and you have a few stitches but the doctor said you are going to be fine."

He nodded his head slowly and turned his attention back to Rachel

"where's Emma?" he asked swallowing a few times trying to get moisture back in his mouth.

"she's in the waiting room with the rest of the guys. Do you want me to go get her?"

"yes, please" he said smiling at her and she couldnt help but smile when she saw the twinkle in his eyes at the mention of their daughter. She got up and went towards the door to get Emma. She didnt have to travel far because when she was about to open the door, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Emma were on the other side of it

"sorry, Rach, but she was getting a bit restless when she woke up and wanted to see you"

"that's okay Pheebs. I was about to get her anyway."

Emma reached her arms out for her mother and Rachel took her from Phoebe's arms. She stayed at the door with Emma as the rest of them made their way into the room to see Ross.

"Hey man, how are you feeling?" Chandler asked his lifelong friend

"Im okay."

"thank god your okay Ross. You had us worried for awhile"

"I know Joe."he said with an apologetic look on his face

"I knew something bad was going to happen today. I pulled out five eyelashes this morning and that is never a good sign"

"well, Im fine Pheebs. No need to worry anymore." They were all silent for a moment as they all looked at Ross

"daddy?"

They all turned their attention to Emma, all forgetting she was still in the room

"hey, baby. Come see daddy." he said patting a seat next to him on the bed.

Rachel walked over to the side of the bed and placed Emma at the foot of the bed. She was about to crawl up to see her father but was stopped by Rachel

"No Em, stay there. Daddy isnt feeling good and we dont want to hurt him on accident, okay."

Emma just stared at Rachel not really understanding what was going on. She wanted to see her daddy but her mommy wasnt letting her. She started to get upset and both Rachel and Ross saw it in her eyes but Rachel made Emma stay where she was. She didnt want Emma to hurt Ross anymore then he already was by accidently sitting on something she wasnt supposed to

"it's okay princess. Come here," he said holding his arms out to her

That was all Ross needed to say to make Emma crawl into his arms. They all saw that Ross was in pain as Emma made her way towards him resting on his stomach and chest but Ross didnt care. The pain was all worth it when he held his baby girl in his arms. He squeezed her as tight as he could and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you so much Emma."

"wuv too daddy."

Rachel stayed by the door watching the moment shared between father and daughter. Her eyes were already brimming with tears but she held them in.

Ross tried to hold in his scream of pain when Emma adjusted herself on his chest kneeing him in the ribs. They all saw this but Ross signaled them not to say anything to Emma. Emma rolled her body over so she was laying on Ross' side and sat up on her knees, grabbing his face in her hands.

"daddy, hut?"

"yeah, daddy was in an accident and got hurt but I will be better soon," he said smiling at her brushing some of her baby curls behind her ear. Emma suddenly pulled Ross' face to hers and gave him a nice big wet kiss on the cheek

"aww betta daddy?"

"yes, daddy's all better sweetheart." he said trying not to cry from the love his daughter was giving him "Can I have another kiss?"

She nodded her head happily and kissed him on the lips

"I love kisses from my princess."

Emma started laughing and kissed him all over his face. Rachel couldnt take it anymore and started crying from the special bond shared between Emma and Ross. She tried to hold in her tears so no one would know she was crying but she let out a cry and everyone looked at her

"why mommy cwyin, daddy?"

"it's okay Emma. I'm fine. Im just really happy."

Emma was satifsied with her answer and took her place by her fathers side and layed her head on his chest, sucking her thumb. Ross smiled at Rachel from across the room, and she returned his smile while wiping away the rest of her tears. Ross closed his eyes, resting his cheek against Emma's head loving the feeling of his daughter in his arms

Ross was still groggy and didnt even realize he had fallen asleep. His eyes were heavy as he tried opening them. All he could feel was a tight grasp on his hand holding on for dear life. He knew who it was.

"Mon, can you loosen the grip on my hand? Your killing me."

"sorry"

That wasnt the voice he was expecting

"Rach?"

"yeah. Sorry, I didnt mean to hurt you," She relaxed her grip and gently held his hand in hers

"that's okay," he said smiling at her "Man, that stuff they have me on is really good. I didnt even realize I feel alseep"

"yeah. you passed out 20 minutes ago with Emma. The others took Joey for some ice cream."

He had to laugh at that but then he looked next to him for Emma but she wasnt there

"wait, where's Emma?"

"over there," she said nudging her head in the direction of the love seat by the window. Emma was sleeping peacefully with her thumb still in her mouth. Ross smiled at her and then looked back at Rachel. They were quiet for a few minutes just looking at each other until Rachel spoke.

"Ross, I am so sorry"

"for what?" he asked scrunching his eyebrows together. He was really confused over her apology

"this is all my fault," she said breaking down placing both hands on his squeezing it for dear life.

"Rach, this is not your fault."

"I cant help but think that it is. If we werent agruing you wouldnt have left and..."

"Stop. This is not your fault so get that out of your head right now, okay. It just happened. I should have been more careful when crossing the street. I am 34 years old. I should know to look both ways."

This made Rachel laugh slightly as she wiped the few tears that found their way down her cheek.

"Im just so happy your okay," she said kissing his hand, keeping it to her lips.

"Me too," he said softly brushing her bangs away that had fallen into her eyes. They continued to smile at each other when their moment was ruined when the gang came back in the room as well as the doctor.

"hello, Mr. Geller. Are you feeling any better?"

"much better. Thank you."

The doctor was scanning through his reports on Ross' condition until he finally looked back up at him

"okay, it looks like you are responding well to everything and you can be released in a few days. We want to keep you overnight just for a few days just to make sure there wasnt any injury to your head. You took quite a fall as you can imagine. I;m sure you arefine, we just want to be sure everything is okay."

They all nodded

"Usually in cases like this, I like my patients to stay with someone for several weeks so they arent alone. It will be difficult getting around in the beginning and you may get winded from time to time because of your fractured ribs so it is always good for someone to be aorund. Anyone have any questions?"

They all shook their head no

"okay then. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you"

Once he was gone Monica was the first to speak

"Ross your going to be staying with me and Chandler"

"what? no way. Im not staying with you guys. You two are married and need your privacy. I know the doctor wants me to stay with somene but I'll be fine by myself"

"No Ross! You are staying with us."

"Mon, no Im not. I'll just be bothering you all day long and I dont want to be in the way of you and Chandler

"You will never be in the way, man"

"I'm sorry, but I cant stay with you. I'll be fine."

Everyone was silent for awhile trying to come up with some solution. Rachel could only think of one thing

"Me and Emma will stay with you for awhile."

"What?" was heard throughout the room

"Ross, you need someone to help you in the beginning like the doctor said. You wont stay with Mon and Chandler so Im assuming you wont stay with Mike and Phoebe and there is no room at Joeys so this is the only solution. Besides, you have the extra room where me and Emma stayed before. I mean, you even have a crib for Emma still. Im going to stay with you."

"Rach, I know what your doing and you dont have to and I know you dont want to stay with me. You said so yourself"

Everyone exchanged looks with one another and werent really sure what they were talking about

"I want to do this for you Ross and it will only be for a few weeks. It's either this or Joey moves in with you. Now, who do you want helping you get dressed? Me or Joey"

Joey and Ross exchanged looks and both made a weird face at each toher

"definitely you"

"okay its settled then. Me and Emma are going to be staying with you for the next few weeks."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **wow, there is like one person reviewing this story :( Anyway thank you so much dmtennis1 for your review and all the other comments you always make. I get really excited when I read them because I love reading what you and veryone else have to say so your reviews are always greatly appreciated.

so here is the next chapter. Now keep in mind I have never broken a leg or fractured a rib so I'm just making this stuff up as I go along :)

--

Ross had to stay in the hospital for several days but luckily was being released in time for the holiday. It was Thanksgiving morning and everyone got up bright and early to visit Ross in the hospital one final time. They were all gathered around around his bed with Emma sleeping right next to him. They were joined in the room with a woman nurse who was tending to Ross' injury on his chest and head.

"okay, Ms. Green I was told you are the one you will be taking care of Mr. Geller for a few months."

"yes, that's right."

"okay, well right now I am going to change the bandages covering his wounds on his chest and head. Now, your going to be doing this once or twice before his wounds are completely healed and the stitches need to be taken out."

Rachel nodded her head and watched as the nurse carefully removed the white bandages . She closed her eyes briefly when she finally got a good look at the wounds on his chest. The cuts across his chest were so big, she never seen anything like it. She saw Ross flinch in pain as the nurse applied some ointment. Rachel watched intently making sure she knew exactly what to do when putting on the new bandage and the nurse then moved to the wound on his forehead. This cut wasnt as bad. It didnt look as red as the other ones and it ran from the area just above his right eyebrow ending just below his hairline. Once that badnage was on Ross layed back on his pillow closing his eyes. Rachel grabbed his hand, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

"are you okay Ross?"

He opened his eyes and smiled at her

"you better not hurt me when you do this," he said warning her in a playful manner

"I'll try not to," she said rolling her eyes at him.

"okay, Mr. Geller. Your all set over here. I'll just get your release forms from the doctor and you can be on your way."

"thank you," he said gratefully and watched as she left the room

"how do you think she's doin'?"

They all stared at Joey.

"what? I'll be right back."

He soon left the room in the direction of the nurse.

"okay, I have to get going and start on dinner tonight." She leaned over Ross and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "bye sweetie."

"bye Mon."

"this dinner is going to be the best one yet. Im going to make mashed potatoes with lumps and everything," she said smiling at her brother

"thanks Mon" he said laughing, remembering their first Thanksgiving dinner as a group of six.

"come on Chandler. You can make cranberries while watching the Thanksgiving parade."

She was soon out the door. He looked at the group nervously and started to stutter

"I...I dont..I dont watch that."

He quickly ran out of the room with the others laughed at him.

"okay, Ross. I have to get going too. I'll see you guys later." She kissed Ross and Rachel and left leaving Ross and Rachel all by themselves.

"so it looks like it's just the two of us," Ross stated

"well three of us," she said looking down at Emma who was curled up to her father's side

"I forgot she was here. She's been so quiet."

"oh that's lovely Ross. You forget when your daughters in the room when she sleeping right next to you," she said teasing him

"shut up."

She pulled up a seat next to Ross' bedside and began running her fingers through Emma's hair and down her back. She continued to look at the perfect little person laying on the bed and watched as her arm twitched when she ran her fingertips over her baby's soft skin.

"hey?"

"yeah," she said taring her eyes from her daughter to look at Ross.

"thanks for staying with me. It really means a lot to me having you and Emma with me right now," he said with so much sincerity in his voice it melted her heart alittle bit.

She slipped her hand in his and looked at him.

"your welcome Ross," she said smiling at him.

She felt him squeeze her hand tighter. Lately they've been sharing many sweet moments together and they were enjoying each of them as they came along. But yet again, their moment was ruined when the nurse soon came in with a wheelchair and wheeled it right next to Rachel

"okay, Mr. Geller. You are all set to go. I know you've been practicing walking with your crutches for a few days but I brought a wheel chair just in case you wanted to use it."

"I think Im going to use the crutches."

"okay. Good luck with everything Mr. Geller."

"thank you for taking such good care of him," Rachel said politely.

"your welcome. He was a great patient"

"thank you again, Lisa," Ross said

She smiled at both of them before exiting the room.

"I guess it's time to go home."

"Finally!!", Ross almost shouted causing both of them to laugh.

"Emma, sweetie. It's time to get up."

She gently picked Emma up and watched as she opened her eyes. She looked around the room confused but soon rested her head on Rachel's shoulder closng her eyes again.

"wake up sleepyhead. We're taking daddy home now."

"home?"

"yeah, remember. Me and you are going to live with daddy for a while."

Emma didnt really know what this meant but she smiled none the less. She placed Emma on the chair and walked over to get Ross his crutches.

"Em, you stay there while I help daddy."

Emma did what she was told and watched as Ross tried to get out of bed. He sat up from his position and tried to move his legs so they were both hanging over the bed. It was difficult to manuever because he had the cast on his leg and everytime he moved he had shooting pains in his stomach from his ribs. This caused him to loose his breath and Rachel took notice. She sat on the bed next to him

"breathe Ross. Try to relax," she said trying to calm him down as she ran a hand up and down his back.

Once he got his breath back he tried to lift himself from the bed to hold onto his crutches. To do this, Rachel put his arm over her shoulders so he can have some support. They stood at the same time and Ross held both crutches with one hand. Once he was sturdy on his foot he let go of Rachel and grabbed the other crutch with his free hand. He put the crutches under his armpits and balanced with them on one leg.

"good tob, daddy,"

"thank you sweetheart."

Rachel grabbed Emma's hand and helped her off the chair, making her stand up next to her. She looked at Ross who was smiling at both of them

"you all set?" she asked.

"let's get out of here."

--

When they walked into Ross' apartment, he immediatly sat on the couch. He was exhausted. Rachel came strolling in behind him with Emma sleeping in her arms as usual.

"I'm just going to put her in her bed."

"wait, Rach. It's alittle messy in your old room. I didnt really expect you two to be staying here again."

"Ross, the room is all cleaned up. While you were in the hospital me, Monica and Phoebe tidyed it up. Dont worry about it, okay."

"okay."

She reappeared in the livingroom moments later and took a seat next to them on the couch. She layed the back of her head against the couch and closed her eyes. Ross turned his head, feeling the cold leather against his cheek as he looked at her.

"it's been a crazy couple of days, huh?'

"it sure has," she almost chuckled, resting her hand on his unhurt knee. "oh, I almost forgot." She suddenly got off the couch and grabbed a shoping bag that was on the floor near the front door. "I got you these."

"what is it?"

She began pulling tons of pants out of the bag

"I got you a whole bunch of sweatpants from Ralph Lauren. Your going to have to wear these for a while bcause of your cast."

"wow, thanks Rach."

"your welcome sweetie," she said smiling at him warmly.

They soon heard a loud cry coming from Rachel's bedroom making them look in the direction of her door.

"I'll be right back."

She walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Inside she saw Emma standing in her crib with tears free falling from her eyes, waiting for someone to give her attention.

"It's okay baby, mommy's here," she said picking Emma up in her arms.

Much to Rachel's surprise, Emma continued to cry. She began rocking her back and forth but nothing was making her stop

"daddy, I wat daddy," she cried, her bottom lip quivering.

"Em, daddy needs to rest now okay," Rachel explained as she wiped away Emma's tears gently with her thumb.

Emma continued to cry as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Rachel tried soothing her by rubbing her hand up and down her back, rocking back and forth. Rachel suddenly turned around when she heard the bedroom door open, only to find Ross in the doorway.

"Ross, what are you doing here? You have to sit down and rest."

"daddy!!" Emma shouted, reaching in the direction of her father

"need some help?"

"yes, she wants you."

"well, give me her."

"Ross, you cant hold her," she reminded him.

"Sure I can. Watch."

He walked his way over to the bed and carefully sat down leaning his crutches against the bed.

"I can hold her now."

The second Ross came in the bedroom Emma stopped crying. All she wanted was her daddy. When Emma saw Ross sit on the bed she was practically leaping out of Rachel's arms trying to get to Ross. Rachel carefully put Emma in Ross' arms and held her like you would an infant. He grabbed her chubby arm, bringing it to his lips and kissing it a few times. Emma brought her hand to Ross's face, running her fingers all over it.

Rachel took a seat next to Ross on the bed she would call hers for the next few months and watched as Emma touched every part of Ross' face. Her eyes were shining as she touched his eyebrows, his eyes, his nose, his mouth and his cheeks, everything that belonged to her daddy.

"daddy's here now, daddy's here," he whispered to her as he ran his own fingers through her hair.

They continued to stare at each other as Emma's eyes grew heavy making her close them for awhile but then open them again. Ross continued to run his fingers over Emma's soft skin and smiled at her giving her so much love. This was getting a bit overwhelming for Rachel. The interaction between the two brought tears to her eyes and she couldnt watch it any longer.

"excuse me."

Ross didnt even notice her leave the bedroom. He was too busy watching his baby fall asleep in his arms. Rachel took a seat on the couch in th living room and cried into her hands. Just watching the two of them together couldnt help but make her think what it would be like if Ross wasnt here. She couldnt stop thinking about the fact that if Ross had died from that accident he would be out of her life forever. And if he was out of her life that would mean he was out of Emma's life and she just couldnt handle that fact. Ross was Emma's hero and wanted to be next to him whenever he was in the room. Emma needed her father in her life and Rachel needed him in hers.

She was so close to losing him, she couldnt breath when she thought about it. He meant so much to her and if she ever lost him there would be a piece fo her missing. He was the only man she ever loved and the man she would always love no matter how hard she tried to deny it.

He was her Ross

The more she thought about it the harder she cried. Ross soon entered the living room not realizing Rachel was crying.

"well, she's sleeping again. I couldnt lift her so I just put her on your bed and surrounded her with pillows. You might want to go in there and put her in the crib so she doesnt fall off the bed."

When he got to where Rachel was sitting he saw her hunched over with her face in her hands and her body was shaking up and down. This got him worried.

"Rach, what's wrong?"

She didnt answer him as he took the seat next to her. Her face was still buried in her hands so he grabbed her wrists removing her hands from her face.

"Rach?"

"I cant live without you in my life," she said looking up and him.

He didnt even hear what she said because the moment he saw her face soaked from tears he felt this need to comfort her

"oh my god Rachel! Why are you crying?" he asked wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb.

She grabbed his wrist keeping his hand to her cheek.

"I cant live without you." she said looking directly into his eyes

"what are you talking about? I'm right here," he said trying to understand

"If I had lost you in that accident, I dont know what I would do. I need you in my life Ross. Emma needs you. I need you," she cried bitting her bottom lip with her teeth, trying to hold back her tears.

Now Ross knew what all of this was about and he had to assure her he was always going to be here for her.

"Rach, Im right here." He grabbed her hand and brought it to his chest so she could feel his heart. "Im right here and Im not going anywhere," he assured her.

She looked deep into his eyes and saw the same love she always saw whenever she looked in them. She felt as he squeezed her hand tighter and she smiled when she felt the beating of his heart. A single tear rolled down her cheek but was soon wiped away by Ross. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand as he stroked her cheek. When she opened her eyes she saw him already looking at her

"I can't lose you," her voice slightly above a whisper

"Come here," he said, pulling her to his chest. He expected her to wrap her arms around him but was surprised when she didnt. "It's okay, sweetie, your not going to hurt me. You can never hurt me."

She slowly wrapped her arms around him but once they were around him she had to hold him tighter. She buried her face in his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

"Your never going to lose me. Ever."

She cried into his chest after hearing those words because she knew when Ross was by her side everything was going to be okay.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for the reviews :)

Exintaris-I just got to say when I was reading your review all I could think about was the episode of Friends when Ross was correcting Rachel's grammar in her letter. "Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E means 'you are,' Y-O-U-R means 'your!'" I appreciate you calling me out on that and you're right, I am not a fan of apostrophes.

I'm really horrible at grammar as most of you can probably tell and I'm sure this chapter is full of mistakes but I tried my best :)

--

The next morning Rachel was woken from her peaceful sleep after hearing the crying wails coming from her 18month old daughter. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she lifted the blankets off her body and sluggishly got out of bed to comfort her daughter.

"sweetheart, you have to stop waking up so early," she said as she brushed her fingers through Emma's hair. "Do you want to lay in bed with me for awhile?"

Emma reached her arms up into the air so Rachel could lift her up. A few stary tears continued to fall from Emma's eyes but Rachel wiped them away as she walked back to the bed. With one hand Rachel lifted up the sheets and crawled under the covers. She layed Emma next to her and they both rested their heads on the same pillow. Emma rolled over, cuddling to her mother's side as she played with Rachel's hair. She stroked Emma's arm lazily up and down until the baby finally closed her eyes again. She watched as Emma's chest slowly rose up and down and kissed the wetness that remained on her cheek from her tears.

This was their usual morning routine. It was a miracle if Emma slept past 8 so when she woke up early Rachel would get her from her crib and let her sleep in the bed with her for awhile. This allowed Rachel to get an extra hour of shut eye since Emma would always fall back to sleep when she was laying next to Rachel. Rachel would normally drift off back to sleep with her arms around Emma but that didnt seem to be happening this morning. There were just too many things on her mind and as usual one of those things was Ross. She stroked Emma's arm absentmindedly as she thought about the previous night.

Ross and Rachel were wrapped up in one another's arms for quite some time as he whispered soothing things into her ear casting her fears away. She remembered feeling so safe in his arms and she hadn't felt that in such a long time. Infact the last time she felt that was when she was dating Ross all those years ago. He always had that power over her. Whenever they were dating and she had a bad day at work he would know just what to say to make her feel better as he held her tightly in his arms. Still to this day he always had the right words to make her day better.

They spent the rest of the night at Monica's apartment, spending the holiday with all of their friends. Throughout the night they kept distancing themselves from their friends conversations to find themselves talking only to each other. She realized for the past few weeks her and Ross have been becoming closer than they've been in a while,especially after the accident, and it felt good. Rachel was at his side every day he spent at the hospital keeping him company. She loved the closeness she has with Ross and even before they started dating their relationhip was always different than it was between her and Joey and Chandler. She knew in the back of her mind the bond between them was just going to grow since they were living together again. Now she just wondered exactly how close they were actually going to get in such close quarters. With them you never could tell but she couldn't deny that she was a little excited to find out.

Rachel was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Emma's hand travel across her face. She looked down at Emma who was wide awake and smiling happily at her.

"you're not going back to sleep are you honey," she said kissing her between the eyes.

"daddy?"

"daddy's sleeping now. How about I make you some yum-yums?"

Emma got very excited about the idea of eating some food so she lifted herself up and began crawling over Rachel's body, trying to get off the bed.

"hold on there, little one," Rachel said grabbing Emma in her arms. "First we need to change your diaper."

--

Rachel had made some scrambled eggs for her and Emma. She had gotten much better at the cooking thing since Emma started eating solid food. After cleaning the eggs off of Emma's face and out of her hair, how that child got so dirty Rachel would never know, they took a seat on the couch in the living room. Rachel switched on the television and turned on Emma's favorite show. As the show went on Emma slid her way off the couch and entertained herself with some of her toys that were on the floor while watching tv. Rachel kept turning her attention to Ross' closed bedroom door trying to hear any movement coming from the other side. After watching episodes of the Backyardigans, Handy Mandy and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse she decided it was time to check on Ross. She left her position on the couch as Emma was busy watching the new epsiode of Dora the Explorer to even notice her disappearence. Rachel knew she was a good baby and would stay put.

She slowly opened Ross bedroom door and peeked her head inside. He was still sound alseep with that stupid humidifier buzzing away. She looked at him for a few more moments before turning to exit the room.

"Rach?"

She opened the door wider when she heard her name being called

"yeah, it's me. I'm sorry I didnt mean to wake you."

"nah, that's okay. I need to get up anyway," his voice cracking slightly from just waking up.

Rachel was still standing by the door just looking at him.

"Rach, it's okay. You can come in."

She walked further into the room and took a seat on his bed as he tried adjusting himself resting his back against the headboard. They just stared at each other until he remembered something.

"wait, what are you doing here? Don't you have to go to work?"

"Ross, first of all, I never work the day after Thanksgiving and second of all, I asked for a week off work so I can stay home with you."

"Rach you didn't have to do that. I would have been fine," he said with the sound of guilt in his voice, realizing he was the reason she was missing work.

"I know, but I wanted too. I needed a vacation anyway."

"well, I dont really know how much of a vacation this is going to be."

"hey, anytime I'm away from Mr. Zelner is a vacation for me," she said laughing.

"well, thanks. It means alot to me."

"your welcome," she said giving him a smile.

"Emma up yet?"

"yeah, she's watching Dora as we speak."

"ah, so that must mean it's 9 o'clock."

"yep."

"well, it's still early so I think I'm just going to go back to sleep," he said teasing her, wrapping the covers more securely around his body.

"you better not," she almost yelled, tugging the covers off of him.

"hey, I'm injuryed. I need sleep."

"oh come on you big baby. You need to keep me company out there and talk to me. I'm starting to repeat the lines out loud to all her shows, I've seen them so much."

"you think that's bad. I find myself singing Dora the Explorer theme song while I'm at work all day long. You should see the looks I get."

"believe me, I get them too," she said causing them both to laugh. "speaking of Emma, I'll be right back. Im just going to check on her."

She slipped her way out the door and walked into the living room only to fnd Emma passed out on the floor on top of all of her stuffed animals. She smiled at her daughter, throwing a warm blanket on top of her and kissed her forehead. She headed back to Ross' room to find him in the exact same position she left him in.

"is she okay?"

"she's fine. She's alseep on all of her animals on the floor. She looks quite comfortable." she informed him, taking a seat back on the bed.

"Im sure she is. That kid can fall asleep anywhere."

"just like her daddy,"she laughed, patting his leg.

He smiled at her and looked down at her hand on his leg. She didn't notice him looking at where her hand was because she was too busy laughing at him when she took notice of his messy bed hair.

"hey, what's so funny?" he asked, pushing her lightly on the shoulder.

"umm...your hair. It's standing up every which way," she explained as she ran her hand through it, messing it up even more.

"yeah, I should probably take a shower or something," he repiled, scratching his scalp

"uh Ross, you can't take a shower, remember. You can't get that cast wet yet or your stitches."

"oh right. I forgot. So now what?"

"well, the nurse said you have to get a sponge bath for a couple of weeks so I guess I have to give you one."

"your... going to give me...a sponge bath?" he asked with his eyes a little wider than normal.

"yes, Ross and we should do it now while Emma is asleep."

"Rach, don't you think that's going to be a little weird," he said in his nervous laughter "I mean it's you and me."

"well, we don't have any other choice okay. You can't give yourself one."

"I can too," he said in an almost defensive manner

"Ross, you can't even lift your shirt above your head because it will cause pain in your ribs."

"yes, I can."

"really, let me see," said said crossing her arms over her chest.

"fine."

He crossed his arms over his stomach to grab the bottom of his shirt. He slowly lifted his shirt but when he got above his shoulders he let out a cry of pain.

"Ross, will you stop this," she demanded, grabbing his arms and pulling them down. "let's just go into the bathroom and we'll clean you up."

"Rach..."

"get up."

He watched as she got off the bed to leave the room and enter the bathroom. He sat there for a few minutes and finally gave in and headed to the bathroom with crutches in hand. When he entered the bathroom Rachel was getting a wash cloth from the closet and started running the water from the sink. Ross situated himself with his back against the bathroom counter and looked at her.

"alright, let's get you out of this shirt."

She took the fabric in her hands and lifted it to his arms. Ross carefully slipped his arms out of the arm holes and Rachel pulled the shirt over his head. She grabbed the wash cloth, rubbed some soap on it and brought it to his chest. He suddenly put his hand on top of hers, looking at her.

"I can do this part."

"okay," she said quietly nodding her head

She watched as he ran the cloth over his arms, chest and stomach. She didn't want it to get uncomfortable between them so she wanted to keep a conversation going.

"so, does your cuts hurt?"

"no, not really, but I'm taking alot of painkillers," he explained as he continued cleaning his body.

"alright, you need to turn around so I can get your back."

He handed her the wash cloth and slowly turned around. When she saw his back she became very quiet. This was the first time she saw his back and how badly it was bruised. While looking at it she couldn't even understand how Ross was able to move without being in tremendous pain. She ran her hand over the large bruise that covered the majority of the left side of his back.

"Rach? you okay?"

"yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It's just you have a really big bruise on your back," she said as she ran the cloth over his skin.

"I do?"

"yeah. This doesn't hurt when I touch you here."

"no, not really but like I said I'm on alot of painkillers."

"turn around."

He did what he was told and faced her.

"I'm just going to wet your hair and make it you know..normal," she said smiling at him.

"okay," he laughed.

After cleaning his hair she dropped the wash cloth in the sink and they stared at each other.

"since we're doing this we might as well change your sweatpants too. I mean you've been wearing those since the hospital."

"I guess your right."

She saw he was little hesitant at first when pulling his pants down.

"Ross, I've seen you in your boxers plenty of times."

"I know, it's just...I dont know...it's different now," Ross said embarassed.

"oh so you don't like it, do you? See, now you know how I felt when I bruised my ribs and you had to help me get dressed. And you saw me naked!!"

"okay fine, now I know how you felt."

"look it's fine. We're both adults," she said and helped him pull his pants over his cast and off of his legs. "ummm...I don't know if you want to change your boxers or what," she said picking his pants and shirt up off the floor and throwing them in the hamper, doing anything to avoid his gaze.

"I guess," he said nervously, clearing his throat.

Now this was awkward.

"but I'll do that...somehow," he said looking anywhere besides Rachel.

"okay, I'll just get you a pair."

She went into his room to get a pair of boxer shorts and returned to the bathroom placing them on the countertop.

"okay, just call me if you need me."

"yeah, I have a feeling that won't be happening."

"okay," she said laughing as she exited the bathroom.

With much difficulty Ross somehow got his boxer shorts off his body and put the clean pair on. He was out of breath and in pain and he wasn't exactly sure how he did it, but he did. After putting on some deodorant, he left the bathroom still trying to catch his breath and Rachel saw him.

"hey, you okay?" she asked getting off the couch to stand next to him.

"yeah, is Emma still sleeping?"

"like an angel."

"good because I don't want her too see me in my underwear."

"Ross, I don't think she knows the difference."

"yeah, but still..."

"well she's sleeping but you still need to put on your pants."

"ugh, I don't know if I can. Let me rest for a second."

"well, let's go into your bedroom and I'll put them on for you."

They both walked to his room and Ross sat on his bed. Rachel took a pair of sweatpants she put neatly in his drawer the day before and walked over to the bed. She began pulling the pants over his cast and when she got to his thighs they looked at eachother.

"yeah, so this isn't awkward at all."

"Ross, you need to lift up so they can go on."

"I can pull them up."

She nodded as he stood up with his crutches and pulled the pants up his body. Rachel helped put on his shirt and they made their way back into the living room. They plopped down on the couch, resting their head on the back pillows.

"how long did that take? 3 hours?"

"this is still new to us Ross. It will go better as the days go on."

"I guess." He looked at Emma who was still sleeping on the floor, surrounded by her toys "would you just look at her. I can never get enough of her," he said smiling brightly.

Rachel turned her gaze to Emma

"I know, me either. She asked for you this morning."

"she did?"

"yeah, but I told her you were sleeping."

"you could've came in and woken me up."

"I know but you needed your rest. She was very content just watching her cartoons waiting for you to get up."

They both watched Emma as she slept like they did so many times before. She was laying on her back as tiny noises emitted from her mouth now and then.

"can you believe Monica and Chandler are going to have one of these soon," Ross said in amazement

"I know. What a great Thanksgiving for them. They are so happy and they are going to make wonderful parents."

"well I know Monica is. Chandler I'm not sure sure about," he said laughing

"hey, give Chandler some credit. I think he'll make a great dad once that baby is in his arms. You'll see."

"I know. I was only kidding."

"sure you were." she said smirking at him.

They both looked back at Emma, admiring their sleeping child.

"I can't believe how lucky we are to have Emma in our lives Ross. I can't imagine my life without her now."

"we are very lucky and she loves you so much Rach. I don't know if I ever told you this but you are an incredible mother."

She looked at him and smiled after hearing his words.

"Thank you but believe me I am not the best," she said focusing her eyes on her lap.

She felt his hand move on top of hers as he gave it a gentle squeeze. She soon looked up at him.

"yes you are and Emma is so lucky to have such a loving mother as you."

"well she's pretty lucky to have such an amazing father who loves her more than anything in this world."

"yeah, she's pretty up there."

"she loves you so much, you know"

"I know and I love her. She's my baby."

"I know. That is one very loved little girl."

They smiled at each other as Ross kept his hand over hers, leaning over slightly to kiss Rachel on her forehead. She flipped her hand over under his to lace her fingers between his. They both tore their gaze from each other to once again look at Emma, keeping their hand in one another's.

--

Emma woke up 20 minutes later and they spent the rest of the day in the apartment as a family, that was until Monica came bursting through the door late in the afternoon.

"Hey guys"

Ross and Rachel looked away from the tv for a moment to greet her.

"hey Mon," they said at the same time.

They turned their attention back to the tv as Monica stood by the front door. Ross and Rachel were sitting comfortably on the couch with a blanket covering them both. Emma was on the floor playing with her variety of toys not even noticing who came through the door. Monica made her way further into the apartment and took a seat on the love seat.

"so what are you guys watching?"

"oh some stupid documentary your brother sucked me into watching."

"wow, and your still awake. That must be some sort of miracle"

"haha your so funny. And for your information this documentary won many awards. Infact it was voted ..."

"Ross please. Your the only one who cares about the thing your about to say."

Ross just looked at his sister and soon bumped the side of his fists together in his special way to curse her out. Rachel just laughed at the two of them as Monica continued to tease him.

"you know, this should go in the record books because even Emma stayed up while your award winning documentary was on."

"I'll have you know Emma loves watching documentaries with me especially ones about dinosaurs. Isn't that right princess?"

Emma looked up at her father and held her t-rex stuffed animal.

"Dino," she simply said before pulling it to her face, hugging it and giving it a big kiss.

"that's right Emma. That's your dinosaur," he told Emma while looking at Monica giving her a 'I told you so' look.

"Emma did you say hi to Aunt Monica?" Rachel asked her daughter

Emma looked to her side and when she saw her aunt she gave her a big smile before crawling over to her and Monica lifted her up in her arms.

"here's my girl," Monica gushed while kissing Emma on the forehead.

She put Emma back on the floor and she walked over to where Rachel was sitting on the couch. She tried pulling herself up but was not succeeding so Rachel lifted her and placed her on her lap. Emma just stared at the adults as they carried on with the conversation.

"so, how are you feeling Ross?"

"fine. A little pain here and there but I'm fine."

"Are you two okay living with each other again?"

They looked at one another and smiled.

"yep, so far so good. But if I have to watch one more of these things I'm going to have to borrow some of Ross' painkillers."

"oh so now your going to start with me."

"Im just kidding Ross."

Once he looked away she looked at Monica and shook her head mouthing no I'm not. Monica began laughing

"hey Ross. Can I borrow some of those painkillers when we go to mom and dad's this weekend?" she said joking around.

"Mom and dad's? Why are we going to mom and dad's?" he asked very confused.

"Ross! It's dad's 70th birthday party this Saturday. How can you forget?"

"well I'm sorry Monica. But other things got in the way and the party must have slipped my mind," he said in a sarcastic manner.

"oh right. Sorry, but you're still going right?"

"I guess"

"and your invited too Rach and of course Emma. Mom invited Phoebe and Joey too but they can't make it."

"Who else is going to be there?" Rachel asked.

"Umm...us and Chandler and I guess some of mom and dad's friends."

"Is Richard going to be there?" Ross queistioned

"no and thank god for that. Chandler said if he was there he was going to grow a moustache."

They soon were in hysterics.

"Well good think he isn't going to be growing one. We only need one Aunt Sylvia at this party."

They continued to laugh as they remembered what Chandler looked like with the stubble he called a moustache.

They stayed at Ross' for a while until they all decided to head down to Central Perk and grab some coffee.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **thanks agains for the reviews. I hope you guys are enjoying this story because I really love writing it

As I was writing this chapter, I realized it was getting way too long so I decided to make it into two. Anyway here is the next part to my story :)

--

Today was the day of Jack Geller's 70th birthday party and everyone was busy getting ready in the Geller-Green household. Rachel had already bathed and dressed Emma for the party, who was now sitting quietly on the floor in her flowing pink and white dress watching the Little Mermaid for the thousandth time. She didn't realize her mother was standing behind her as she began to pull out one her pig tails.

"Emma sweetie, you have to leave your hair alone, okay," Rachel said grabbing Emma's arm away from her hair before she was able to completely pull the rubberband out.

She picked Emma up and placed her on her lap as she sat on the couch. She fixed the one pig tail and then twirled Emma's hair around her fingers so her hair would have a curl to it. She brushed Emma's bangs to the side with her fingers, getting them out of her eyes and looked at the angelic face right in front of her.

"awww, Emma, look at you. You look so pretty in your new dress. You are mommy's beautiful baby girl," she beamed, kissing Emma on the forehead.

"pitty," Emma repeated tugging at her dress while smiling at Rachel.

"so pretty."

"my princess is beautiful,"

Emma moved her head to the side trying to look over Rachel's shoulder when she heard Ross' voice in the backgroud. A big smile spread across her face when she saw her daddy coming towards her. Ross took a seat next to Rachel, leaning his crutches against the love seat. Emma crawled her way onto his lap as Ross kissed her on the top of her head. She then leaned her head on Ross' chest turning her face to the side to look at Rachel.

"It looks like someone is getting sleepy," Ross said as he stroked Emma's back up and down.

"I'm sure she is. She had me up at 6 this morning."

"6! Emma, why did you get mommy up so early?"

Emma looked up at him and smiled. She then brought her hands to his face, squeezing his cheeks tightly in her hands.

"don't do that to daddy silly girl," Rachel said giggling when she saw Ross' face being squished in her tiny hands.

"uh, Rach. A little help here," he said laughing, trying to release Emma's grip on his face.

"Come here you."

She grabbed Emma from Ross' lap and lifted her high into the air above her head. Rachel watched as she laughed uncontrollably, clapping her hands in the air. Rachel and Ross both smiled and laughed when they heard all the different sounds coming from Emma's excitement of being so high in the air. Emma soon let out a big scream when Rachel dropped her from the air and caught her at eye level, kissing her on the nose.

"finish watching Ariel, sweetie."

Rachel placed her on the floor once again and Emma soon stuck her thumb in her mouth as she watched the rest of her movie. Rachel looked back at Ross who was already staring at her.

"what time is it?" Rachel asked casually

"2:08," he replied after looking at his watch.

"good, I have a few more hours to get ready before we have to leave."

"go finish getting ready. I can watch Emma."

"in a bit. First, we need to change your bandages."

"ah, Rach do we have to?" he cried, sounding like an 8 year old boy rather than a 34 year old man.

"yes," she said sternly. "Just stay there and I'll get the stuff."

She got up and headed towards the bathroom. Several moments later she returned with a few white gauze bandages and ointment in her hands. This was the first time she was going to do this and she wanted to remember everything the nurse showed her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause Ross any more pain.

She took a seat next to Ross, leaning her legs towards him inorder to face him. Just like the day before she helped him take his shirt off. Emma noticed all the rustling going on behind her so she turned her head around to see what was going on. She watched as Rachel took Ross' shirt off and Emma decided it was time to investigate. She stood up and walked the few inches it took to get to her parents and rested her hand on Rachel's knee as she observed what was taking place.

Emma watched as her mother carefully removed the white bandage from her father's chest, revealing the healing wound underneath.

"ewwwie, daddy."

Rachel looked down only to find Emma standing between them. She didn't even feel the weight of her tiny hand against her knee. Rachel didn't want her daughter to see this so she had to distract her.

"look, Emma. Ariel is singing your favorite song," Rachel said pointing at the TV.

Emma quickly turned her head and saw her favorite princess singing under the water with her trusty companion Flounder. She began swaying back and forth to the music as she sang in some sort of gibberish, completely forgetting about her parents behind her.

"so it's ewwwie, huh?" Ross asked as he laughed over his daughter's choice of words.

Rachel looked at the three seperate slashes that spread across the left side of his chest directly under his collerbone. Each of them were stictched up to perfection but seeing the stitches in the cuts did make it look 'ewwwie'.

"yeah, kind of," she said laughing at him, "but it looks much better than it did before."

"really?" he asked as he looked down trying to see.

"yeah, the swelling's really gone down," she said as she ran her fingers under the wounds on his chest, examining them one by one, "and it doesn't look as red."

Ross closed his eyes and swallowed hard when he felt Rachel's soft fingertips traveling across his bare skin. Whenever she touched him it always felt like a bolt of electricity traveled through his entire body and this time was no different. The way she was touching him, so gently and carefully, reminded him of their past intimate encounters, making goosebumps appear on his skin. When he felt her remove her hand he quickly opened his eyes only to find her staring right at him. He cleared his throat as a nervous habit and saw her smiling at him.

"so...uh...what do you do now?" he asked, trying to sound as smooth as possible.

Why did she still have this affect on him?

He knew why but he wasn't ready to admit it to himself yet. Rachel just smiled while loooking at him, taking notice of his irregular breathing and the uneasiness of his voice.

"Now I need to put on the medicine."

She poured some of the liquid medicine onto a cottonball and brought it to his chest. He suddenly jumped when it touched his skin.

"oh my god, did I hurt you?" she asked worriedly.

"no, no, your fine," he said assuring her, "It's just really cold," he finished with a goofy grin on his face

"oh," she chuckled. "well tell me if I hurt you."

"okay."

She wiped the cottonball containing the medicine over each wound and got the bandage ready that was going to cover them. She looked at the guaze hesitantly, trying to figure out how exactly she was going to cover everything.

"do you know what you're doing?"

"no" she said nonchalantly. "I guess you just have to trust me," she said looking straight into his eyes

"don't worry, I do."

Both of them smiled at each other as she finished tending to his injury. She did the same routine with the wound on his head and Ross couldn't take his eyes off of her. When she was all finished she helped him put his shirt back on and he soon leaned his back against the couch trying to relax.

"so, your wearing those, right?" she asked referring to his sweatpants

"unfortunately yes. I can't believe I have to wear sweatpants to my father's party."

"Ross, it's no big deal. You can't wear anything else yet. It's either that or you go in your underwear. Personally, I'd much rather see you in your underwear, especially in those green dinosaur ones," she said laughing trying to tease him.

He soon shoved her, almost causing her to fall off the couch.

"you know you love those. You were the one who bought them for me," he said joining in her laughter.

"your right. You just look so sexy in them," she said teasing him again.

"would you get out of here. Go get ready already."

She got up, both of them still laughing at one another, and she headed to her bedroom. Before she entered her room she turned around to face him again.

"Ross?"

"yeah?" he asked, turning his head to look at her

"do you still wear those ones I got you?" she asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

The respnose she got was not one she expected. She soon saw a pillow flying in her direction, hitting the side of her body

"get dressed," he demanded while smiling at her

She walked into her room and closed the door. There was no doubt in her mind

He still wore them.

--

In true Rachel fashion, she came strolling out of her bedroom an hour later to find Ross and Emma waiting for her on the couch.

"wow, this is amazing. We are only running 5 minutes late compared to your usual 20."

"oh. be quiet you."

She began gathering Emma's things that would be needed for the trip. As she stuffed diapers and toys and other things her child would need, Ross took the time to notice just how incredible she looked. Having a child just little over a year ago had no effect on her body what's so ever. If it were possible she looked better now than she did in her twenties.

He couldn't tare his eyes away from her.

He admired the way her red spaghetti strap dress hugged every curve of her body perfectly and the way her bangs fell across the side of her face so gracefully. She wore her hair down but it wasn't straight like usual. No, tonight she styled it in loose curls as it fell a little past her shoulders. He smiled when he saw her getting frustrated from her bangs continuously falling into her eyes as she leaned over Emma's diaper bag.

"wow..."

"what," she asked sweetly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"nothing..it's just...you...you look great" he said shyly.

"thank you," she said smiling warmly at him.

"I keep forgetting how good you clean up. Wow!"

"okay, stop it Ross, your embarassing me," she said in a nervous laughter

"sorry," he apologized innocently.

"that's okay."

They continued to look at each other and she smiled when she saw Ross' gaze move from her eyes as he scanned down her body and up again, only to meet her ocean blue eyes once again. Their heavy eye contact moment was interrupted when they heard the sounds of their daughter.

"mommy, pitty."

Rachel smiled widely as she walked over to get her daughter

"thank you baby," she cooed as she lifted her in her arms and kissing her on the forehead.

Ross smiled when she saw Emma run her fingers through Rachel's hair and twirl it around her little finger. He picked up his crutches and lifted himself from the couch.

"so are we all set to go?"

Rachel picked up the diaper bag from the love seat and threw it over her shoulder. With Emma in her arms and Ross by her side she was all set.

"Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** okay so here is the next update. I just want to say that there won't be another update for about a week and a half because I am going on vacation so don't think I forgot about this story :)

And once again, reviews are appreciated

--

There was not enough room in Monica's porshe so Ross and Rachel took a cab to Massapequa, Long Island. Rachel was alittle surprised when she was told they were going to Monica and Ross' childhood home because she thought the Geller sold their house. She was quickly told by Ross that they had trouble selling the house because of so much flood damage so they decided to stay put for a while

Ross and Rachel were pretty quiet for much of the ride down there, only a quick galnce her and there when the other wasn't looking. They arrived at the house an hour later and pulled up to the house Ross called his home for 18 years. However, Rachel was a bit confused when they pulled into the driveway.

"uh, Ross. Why are there Christmas lights on your parent's house?"

Ross had to laugh at the question.

"because they always put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving."

"But you're Jewish."

"I know. Don't ask me why but my parents always felt the need to buy a Chirstmas tree and decorate like all the other family's on the block. Don't you remember we were always the first house on the block to have decorations up when we were kids."

"ah, yes. It's all coming back to me."

Ross paid the cab fare after much much arguement from Rachel, who also wanted to pay, and the three of them exited the taxi.

"Mom, Dad. We're here," Ross shouted as they entered the house.

Soon they were all greeted by two loving parents.

"Happy Birthday dad."

"Thank you son. I'm glad you could make it," he said as he gave Ross a hug

"oh, we couldn't miss your birthday Jack. Happy Birthday"

"Thank you Rachel," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "and here's my beautiful granddaughter."

"gampa."

Jack took her from Rachel's arms and kissed her cheek.

"Come on Emma. Grandpa want's to show you a magic trick."

He walked away with Emma leaving Ross and Rachel with Judy.

"hey mom,"

"hello, sweetie," she said lovingly and kissed him on the cheek "how are you feeling?"

"good. Rach has been taking really good care of me."

"what would we do without her," she said smiling at Rachel, kissing her and giving her a big hug. "don't you look beautiful tonight."

"thank you Judy," she said blushing from the compliment.

"well you two just come on in and have something to eat. I'm going to see where my husband took my granddaughter," she stated, walking off to find the pair.

"it doesn't look like Monica and Chandler got here yet."

"how did we get here before them, especially when you had to get ready," he said kidding around

"will you stop already," she said as she smiled at him

"I'm really surprised we beat them here. Monica had Chandler on a strict schedule on when they were going to leave the apartment."

"well maybe they hit traffic," she said, shrugging her shoudlers.

As if on cue, Monica and Chandler came walking through the door. The first people they saw were Ross and Rachel

"hey guys, where's mom and dad?"

They didn't have to answer them because soon enough Jack and Judy were standing behind them ready to greet their daughter and her loving husband

"there's my little harmonica."

"Happy Birthday dad," she said bringing him in a tight embrace.

He kissed his daughter and then greeted Chandler. Judy did the same and Chandler kissed her on the cheek.

"hi mom."

Judy turned to her daughter and opened her arms to give her hug but suddenly stopped.

"did you do something different to your hair?"

"yeah, I cut it a little shorter," Monica explained knowing exactly where this was going

"oh, I see. Longer hair is a much better cut for your head shape dear. Oh there's Aunt Lisa, Im just going to go say hi," she said cheerfully and walked away

"that woman will ever change."

"Come on Mon. Let's get something to eat," Rachel said throwing a comforting arm over her shoulder.

"wait Rach. Can you take Emma away from my father, please. He's teachign her pull my finger."

"hey, I was going to teach her that."

Rachel and Ross turned there heads sharply to look at Chandler when those words left his mouth, giving him a not so nice glare.

"or not" he said cowering away and standing behind Monica.

Rachel went over to Jack and somehow released Emma from his grip. She made her way back to Ross with Emma in her arms and stood next to him.

"Ross, Rachel"

The both of them turned their attention to the older woman calling their names.

"hi Aunt Sylvia."

"oh my lord. Is this your daughter?"

"yes," they both said with love in their eyes.

"she is beautiful."

"thank you," they both repsonded proudly

"the last time I saw you two was at your parent's anniversary party and, you" she said pointing to Rachel, "were pregnant with her. My how the time has past."

They nodded in agreement

"I heard about the accident Ross. Im so happy you're okay."

"me too."

"Im sure your wife is taking very good care of you."

Ross and Rachel looked at her like she had two heads. Wife? What the hell was she talking about? How much did this woman have to drink?

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"so how is married life treating you two? You guys have been married for over a year now, right?"

They looked at each other strangely, both having absolutely no idea what was going on.

"wh...what?"

"oh, I see your mother calling me. I'll talk to you kids later. You just have a beautiful family."

She soon disappeared into the crowd, leaving Ross and Rachel in much confusion.

"what was that all about?" she asked

"I have no idea," he said shaking his head back and forth. As he started going over things in his head he remembered something. "didn't she say the last time she saw us was at my parent's anniversary party?"

"yeah"

"Rach, we pretended to be married that night because my parents told everyone we were"

"oh my god, so now all their friends and family still think we're married."

"I guess so. What are we going to do?"

"what do you mean what are we going ot do? We are going to pretend we are married."

"what!"

"Ross, it's not that big of a deal. We did it before and it's only for the night" Ross began nodding his head showing her he was willing to go along with it "Besides, it was fun being married to you last time. Come on hubbie, let's get our daughter something to eat."

"okay," he said laughing with her as they joined Monica and Chandler to get some food.

Ross and Rachel didn't have to do too much pretending since they spent most of the night with Monica and Chandler. Every so often if Ross and Rachel were standing by themselves a few family members would tell them how beautiful their daughter was and how happy they look. They would just thank them and on a few occasions Rachel would casually wrap her arm around Ross' waist or stroke his arm. Surprisingly to them both it didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest. It felt just like old times.

As the party was thinning down there were only a few guests left at the house. Rachel and Monica decided to help Judy clean up and finshed washing the dishes in the kitchen. Ross was talking to his father and Chandler, as well as a few other family members that remained at the party while Emma was sleeping on the couch. Ross rested his back against the wall of the entrance way from the living room into the kitchen and Monica and Rachel soon came out to join them. Monica walked over to stand next to Chandler while Rachel remained next to Ross. They casually joined into the conversation until one of the uncles brought something to everyone's attention.

"hey, look who's standing under the mistletoe."

Ross and Rachel both looked up, only to find the dangling green mistletoe hanging right above them

"go ahead. Give your wife a kiss."

Monica and Chandler immediately looked at one another when Uncle Dan said the word wife. They then turned their gaze to Ross and Rachel who were looking uncertainly at each other. Ross gave her a small smile and when she returned it he knew it was okay if he kissed her. As he leaned down to kiss her she closed her eyes waiting for his lips. She soon felt his soft lips that she remembered so well brush against hers giving her a soft kiss on the mouth. Their lips were only together for a few seconds until they broke from the kiss. They opened their eyes and just looked at each other, neither knowing what to do or what to say.

"excuse me, can I talk your **wife** for a second," Monica asked emphasizing on the word wife.

She grabbed Rachel's arm, pulling her aside so no one could hear their conversation. Rachel still had a glazed over look in her eyes after just sharing that kiss with Ross, with the taste of his lips still lingering on hers. Eventhough it only lasted for a few fleeting seconds, it was something they haven't engaged in in quite some time and it still had an affect on her.

"wife?"

"huh"

"Rachel. Why did Uncle Dan call you Ross' wife? and why the hell did you just kiss?"

"remember me and Ross got all that money at your parent's anniversary party because everyone thought we got married. Well, they all still think that is true so therefore I am Ross' wife."

"okay, but why did you kiss? I mean it's Ross."

"Monica, if someone is under the mistletoe, the tradition is you have to kiss. So that's what we did."

"well, how was it?" she asked excitedly

"it was...nice," she said softly.

As she spoke she looked over Monica's shoulder to see Ross talking to Chandler, probably explaining the same thing she did to Monica. She smiled as she looked at him and then she watched as he turned his gaze to meet hers across the room. He smiled at her with a certain look in his eyes that was hard to ignore. Both of their friends were getting angry with them because they were being completely ignored so they tore their gaze from eachother and turned their attention back to their friends.

--

All the guests left a half an hour later leaving just the four of them, Jack, Judy and Emma. After staying another hour they all decided it was time to leave and Rachel began gathering all of Emma's belongings.

"woah, would you look at it outside."

Everyone was curious as to what Chandler was talking about so they all went towards the window. They saw what looked liked the beginning of a very heavy snow storm. The entire ground was already covered in a bed of white snow as it continued to fall at an alarming rate.

"kids, there is no way I am letting you drive home in that. Your going to have to stay the night."

"mom, where are the five of us going to sleep?" Monica asked. "All there is is Ross' bedroom since you turned mine into a gym."

"well, your room is actually a guest room now since no one ever touched the gym equipment," she said staring at her husband

"I thought it was a good idea."

"Stupid Jack, the word is stupid." She turned her attention back to Monica, "anyway you and Chanlder can sleep in there and Rachel, Emma and Ross can stay in his room."

"mom, I don't know if that's a good idea," Ross said as he looked at Rachel.

"don't be ridiculous son. Me and your mother don't want to be worrying about your safety as you drive home so you are staying here."

Ross finally gave in as well as everyone else, besides they were all too exhausted to put up much of a fight. Chandler and Monica got settled in their room and Monica let Rachel borrow one of her old t-shirts and lounge pants she found in the closet. She changed into them and Rachel was very thankful that these clothes were from the time AFTER Monica lost all of her weight.

Rachel carried a sleeping Emma up to Ross' bedroom and somehow Ross made it up the stairs as well. She carefully layed Emma in the middle of the bed and tucked the blankets around her. Rachel was very happy she changed her out of her dress before she feel asleep. She then looked back at Ross who looked very unsure about the current situation they were placed in.

"I'll..ummm sleep on the floor."

"Ross, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. Just sleep in the bed with me and Emma."

"Rach.."

"Come on, let's go to sleep," she said quickly, not really giving him anymore say in the matter.

Rachel quickly hopped into the queen-sized bed, throwing the blankets over her body. She watched as Ross slowly made his way over to his side of the bed and slipped under the covers. There wasn't much room in the bed since it was now being occupied by three people so it was a tight squeeze but comfortable nonetheless. Ross rested his back against the headboard and looked at Emma sleeping between them. Rachel had propped herself up on her elbow and was now stroking Emma's arm up and down.

"well, this is new."

She just looked at him and laughed at his nervousness but chose to ignore it.

"I can never get over how soft her skin is," she said quietly bringing attention to Emma.

"I know," he agreed

He ran his fingers in a line down her arm and over the palm of her hand. He smiled when he saw her fingers twitch.

"she felt you," Rachel said smiling

He looked at her and they stayed quiet for a few minutes as they listened to the quiet breathing of their daughter.

"hey, I'm sorry about that whole mistletoe thing," he whispered disturbing the silence that overtook the room.

"you don't have to apologize."

"I know we had to pretend we were married but I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable and I wasn't sure if..."

"Ross, it's fine," she whispered, interrupting his incessent babbling.

"okay"

"how about we get some sleep."

He nodded and turned over to turn off the light. They both layed on their backs and situated themselves on their respective pillows with the top of their heads only centimeters apart. After Rachel's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room she noticed something glowing on the ceiling. She noticed it looked like clusters of stars in all different sizes covering the entire ceiling but she wasnt sure.

"Are those...stars?"

"yeah, I put them up there when I was in junior high."

"hmmm...it reminds me of something."

Ross turned his head to face her and Rachel did the same.

"me too."

The streetlights shining outside his window filled his room with some light allowing Ross to make out the features of her face. He noticed a certain sparkle in her eyes and a smile spread across her face as they both remembered that incredible night they shared in the planitarium all those years ago. She turned her gaze back to his ceiling.

"So what are we looking at?" she asked with a smile on her face.

Ross smiled to himself as she asked the same question she did 9 years ago. He pointed to a section of stars by the window.

"you see that little cluster of stars next to the big one? That's Ursa Major."

Again they turned their heads to the side to look at each other. They both had identical smiles plastered on their faces.

"Really?"

"I have no idea. Could be," he said laughing, as he remembered having this exact same conversation with her.

They both started laughing quietly so they wouldn't disturb Emma. But when the laughter died down they were left looking into one another's eyes and the air around them became very serious. As they gazed deeply into eachother's eyes, they each saw that certain shine in the other's eyes they always used to see when they were dating.

It never disappeared.

"that sure was some night," Rachel said just above a whisper, referring to their past.

"uh huh," was all Ross could say. He swallowed hard, getting moisture back into his mouth trying to speak again, "it sure was."

He watched as Rachel turned on her side so her face was right next to Emma's as she continued to stare at him.

"Goodnight Ross."

"Goodnight,"

She closed her eyes but she knew Ross was still staring at her. Ross' eyes remained opened as he just watched her sleep and smiled when her bangs fell over her eyes from her slight movement. Sleep was beginning to wash over him and he soon closed his eyes.

Niether of them were completely asleep when Rachel threw her arm over Emma's body causing the back of her hand to brush against his. They both smiled in their sleep when they felt their skin touch both enjoying the feeling of being so close to one another again. They were alseep several minutes later and Rachel left her hand just where it landed.

Right up against his.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Ross was woken up from his deep slepp when he felt hands running all over his face and tiny fingers squuezzi

**A/N: **Wow, I'm really sorry for not having an update sooner but I finally have one!! A big thanks to all of you who are still reading this story and thanks again for all of your reviews 

--

The next morning, Ross was woken from his deep sleep when he felt hands running all over his face and tiny fingers squeezing and tugging at his nose. He knew just who those hands belonged to and when he opened his eyes he saw his daughter staring right at him. She was resting on her knees and leaning on Ross just waiting for her daddy to wake up and talk to her. Ross rubbed the sleep from his eyes and then smiled brightly at his daughter even though he was still exhausted

"well good morning princess," he whispered, brushing some hair from her face and then kissing her on the forehead.

"morning daddy."

Ross soon stretched his arms to the side and let out a big yawn only making Emma giggle. He then looked to his side and smiled when he saw Rachel sleeping peacefully on her stomach. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw how messy her hair was as it covered the majority of her face and how her mouth hung slightly opened. When Emma saw Ross staring at her mother she then turned her body slightly so she can look at her too. Ross watched as Emma carefully moved some hair away from Rachel's eyes and smiled when he saw how gentle she was being. Rachel stirred a bit but didn't wake up much to Emma's disliking. She then looked at Ross in such a way to almost ask permission if she can wake her

"I think it's time for mommy to wake up, don't you?"

Emma smiled and rapidly shook her head up and down. She then crawled onto Rachel's back and began bouncing up and down trying to wake her up. Ross just smiled and began to laugh when he saw Rachel opening her eyes and then bury her face into her pillow.

"mommy, wake up, mommy, mommy, mommy" Emma pleaded as she continued bouncing

Rachel smiled into her pillow when she heard her daughter's words and then turned her head to the side and saw Ross already smiling at her. She returned his smile and then closed her eyes again as she let out a yawn trying to ignore the weight on her back from her growing daughter.

"uh Rach, I think Emma wants you to get up."

"mommy, up," she said with one final bounce.

Rachel finally turned over so Emma was now sitting on her stomach and looked up at her. She looked at her mother with wide eyes and began smiling when she saw Rachel was finally awake

"morning mommy" she said smiling showing off her two front teeth

"good morning baby"

Emma leaned forward and kissed Rachel on the lips giving each other their morning kiss before she sat back up on her mother's stomach

"now, who's idea was it to wake mommy up," she questioned as she stroked Emma's hair out of her face.

"daddy," she said laughing and then pointed at Ross

Ross opened his mouth wide and Rachel started laughing

"Emma, don't tell mommy on me. You're going to get me in trouble," he said joining in on the laughter

Emma continued to giggle at her silly daddy. How could her daddy get in trouble from her mommy?

"so it was Daddy's idea for you to jump on my back?"

Emma just nodded her head up and down

"I think someone's telling stories," Ross said chuckling and tickled the side of Emma's belly

"come on. Let's get her daddy."

When Emma heard that she leaped off Rachel's lap and climbed under the blankets so her parents couldn't get her. Ross and Rachel looked at each other and started laughing as giggles could already be heard from under the covers

"uh oh. We're going to get you Emma," Ross stated

Ross and Rachel both lifted up the sheets, pulling them off Emma. They both began tickling her all over and Emma couldn't stop laughing. She squealed in delight and began wiggling and squirming as they tickled her. They finally stopped and Rachel kissed her on the forehead

"Come here, you"

Rachel pulled Emma to her side as they both faced Ross to lay down on the bed. She pulled Emma close to her chest and kissed the back of her head as Emma closed her eyes as she was cradled in Rachel's loving arms. Rachel then looked at Ross who was now laying his back against the headboard.

"So now after waking both of us up, she is going to go back to sleep."

Rachel let out a slight laugh

"well, she usually goes back to sleep but I don't think that will happen today, but she'll be quiet for a bit. She just needs to lay next to me. This is what we do every morning."

Ross just nodded his head and was happy to find out about their morning routine. He just watched on as Rachel brushed Emma's hair off her forehead

"So how did you sleep?" she asked as she placed a few more kisses on Emma's head.

"pretty good actually. I wasn't in much pain last night"

"that's good, but I'm surprised you were able to fall asleep without that annoying humidifier of yours."

"hey you said you liked that."

"Ross, how could anyone like that thing? It is so loud."

"well, if I remember correctly you never did any complaining when you slept over."

"well, if I remember correctly that's because we were busy doing other things," she said raising an eyebrow and Ross started to laugh, "but now since I'm living with you again, I hear that damn thing every single night before I go to bed."

"well you didn't hear it last night did you?" he retorted

She just rolled her eyes at him and it laughed it off

"anyway, how did you sleep?"

"really good, but I have to say it's been a while since I shared a bed with anyone besides Emma," she said softly as she pulled Emma closer to her.

"hey, I offered to sleep on the floor. I didn't want you to be uncomforta.."

"no, no," she said interrupting him. "It was….nice," she said before smiling at him.

He soon met her smile as they gazed into the other's eyes. It didn't take long before their smiles faded and silence formed between them as their eyes were burning into each other's. This was happening a lot between them recently and neither of them knew what to do about it. They just knew it felt good.

It felt right

"ummm…."he said as he cleared his throat, his usual nervous habit, "we should….we should probably start getting ready soon so we can head home."

"yeah, yeah…your right," she said shifting her gaze from Ross to Emma.

Emma turned over so she can look at Rachel

"home?"

"yeah, sweetie we are going home soon. We just have to say goodbye to grandma and grandpa."

Emma released herself from Rachel's arms and sat on the bed waiting for them to get up so they can all go home. Rachel sat up, untangling herself from the blankets and got up to fetch her cloths she wore the night before.

"hey Ross, are you picking up Ben? Don't you have him today?"

"yeah," he answered as he slowly lifted himself into a sitting position "oh, actually I forgot to tell you about something."

"what's that," she said turning around to face him

"Ben has to go to the Natural History Museum for an assignment he has to do and I told him I would take him today. I was going to take him sooner but you know…." he drifted off and then looked down as he remembered the accident.

She didn't want to bring attention to what happened that day so she chose to ignore his later statement

"okay, that sounds good, but are you going to be okay walking through the museum all day?"

"I'm sure I'll manage," he said giving her a small smile

"hey, why don't I go with you?"

"what? Rach, you don't have to do…"

"no it will be fun and we can take Emma with us."

"that would be really great Rach but are you sure?"

"yes, I'm sure. And how exciting is this for you. Now you will get to teach both of your children about history."

"oh wow, I didn't even think about that," he said, his eyes beaming with excitement

"yeah, and their still young yet so they don't know any better but to listen to you."

"hey," he said defensively

"you know I'm kidding," she said trying to hide her sly grin but Ross saw right threw it

"no your not," he said laughing.

She just smiled at him and turned around to get her things. Ross turned his attention to Emma who was still sitting happily in the middle of the bed

"did you hear that Em? We are going to go to the museum today," he told her as he opened his arms for her as she crawled towards him.

"seum?"

"yep the museum and we are going to see dinosaurs."

Emma just clapped her hands together and Ross kissed her on the forehead being ecstatic after seeing her excitement. Rachel just looked at the two of them shaking her head. Emma may be her mini me in looks but she was all Ross in everything else.

They were like two peas in a pod.

After leaving the Geller house and saying goodbye to their friends Ross, Rachel and Emma picked up Ben and the four of them made their way to the Museum of Natural History. They would usually walk but because of Ross' condition they took a cab. After making their way through the crowds of people all entering the museum they made their way to the front desk and Ross paid for all of their tickets.

"Ross, you didn't have to pay for my ticket," she said as she adjusted the diaper bag in the stroller as they entered into the first exhibit

"Rach, please it was like 20 bucks. It's fine."

"I know, but still. You didn't have to pay for me."

"Just forget about it. Today is my treat okay."

"Ross…"

"Rach…"

"ugh, fine. There is no point in arguing about this."

"I'm glad you finally realized this," he said laughing at her

The first exhibit they walked into was the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life and Ross was getting a little nervous from the crowds of people surrounding them

"Ben, do not let go of your sister's hand."

"I know dad," he said rolling his eyes at him. "Come on Emma, lets go see what's over there," he said leading the way as he clutched her hand tightly in his.

"Clam down Ross, he's got her."

"I know. I just don't like being like this," he said referring to his injury, "and not being able to do anything if something happens to them."

"I know, but look their fine,"

They both watched as Ben lifted Emma into his arms so she can see into the display. She began laughing and pointing into the display as Ben talked to her. Ross and Rachel soon joined them from behind. They walked through the whole exhibit with Ross explaining anything and everything to his children

"Come on guys, let's see what's through this door," he said

As they walked through Ben and Emma's eyes immediately grew wide when they saw what was in front of them. There was a giant whale hanging from the ceiling and it was the size of the entire room.

"mommy, big fishie."

"Em, that's a whale," Ben corrected her, "a very big whale. Dad, this place is so cool."

"I know!," he said in a way his sister would "Guys, look over here!."

Ben grabbed Emma's hand again and they ran to where their father was telling them to look. Rachel just kept shaking her head as she pushed the stroller, not believing how the three of them could be so excited about all of this.

"So Ben, what exactly is your assignment?" Rachel asked as they exited the Hall of Minerals.

"umm…I just have to write all about my favorite exhibit and make like a poster or something."

"okay, then why don't we go to the exhibit that your most excited to see"

"okay, then I want to go to the dinosaur room."

"awww, like father like son" Rachel said looking at Ross

Ross just smirked at her

"yay, daddy. Dino! Dino!"

Ross just smiled at Rachel just trying to rub in the fact that their daughter was just like her father as well.

"well, that's on the next floor. I think the elevators are this way."

As they searched for the elevators the group of four walked passed the closed doors of the planetarium. Ross and Rachel both stole quick glances at each other and tried to hide their smiles as they both thought about that first amazing night they shared 9 years ago. They stayed silent as they entered the elevator both still thinking about that unforgettable night. They all stepped out and soon entered what Ben called the dinosaur room and a giant T-Rex was standing right in front of them

"oh my god, look at those teeth!" Ben said in amazement.

"Dino, Dino."

"Emma, Emma, look at this one over here."

Emma soon let go of her mother's hand and ran over to her big brother as he showed her the other dinosaurs that surrounded the room. Ross stood behind them and explained all the history concerning dinosaurs into their ears. Through the whole room, neither of them left Ross' side. They both looked at him with such admiring eyes and couldn't believe how much their father knew about all of this stuff. This was Ross' element and Rachel was happy he got to take his children here and she was there to witness it. He seemed so happy when he was describing everything and his children were all ears. Ben would ask him a question and he would know the answer right away and the same went for Emma. Whenever she would point at a dinosaur he would immediately tell her stories and all the facts about it.

Rachel couldn't help but smile as she watched them and began to think about all the times he would tell his boring stories to her but she loved it none the less. She loved listening to him speak and to see how smart he was. That was always so sexy to her and the way he was so passionate about things drove her wild. Sure his stories were boring as hell but she didn't care at the time. She just saw the way his eyes lit up when he would tell her further information about the things they would watch on the Discovery channel and his eyes were lighting up the same exact way as he was sharing his wisdom with his children.

She was soon brought out of her thoughts when she felt a tug on her hand

"mommy, look. Baby Dino."

"Yeah, I see Emma. That's a big baby, right?"

She just shook her head to agree.

Without noticing it, they soon entered into a room Ross and Rachel were both quite familiar with. Before they knew it they were standing in front of the homo-habilus display they spent the night in many years ago. They both walked closer to the display, examining it further. It still looked exactly the same. It even had the same blanket in there they brought into the planetarium with them and then later hid under when the school of children walked in on them. They both stayed silent trying to take it all and how much has happened since then. It didn't take long for their eyes to lock and they became completely focused on one another.

Neither of them could believe that night happened 9 years ago when it seemed like just yesterday they were waking up to each other and saying I love you.

"Dad….Dad….DAD!!"

Ross suddenly heard his name being shouted and turned to his son

"what? What is it?"

"Me and Emma have been calling you and Aunt Rachel."

Ross and Rachel both looked at each other both being slightly embarrassed they neither of them was paying attention to their children calling for them.

"Sorry, Ben. What is it?"

"I just wanted to know what that guy is holding. "

Ross looked at what he was referring to and started to laugh

"Those are clay pots."

"Clay pots? I didn't know they had those when these guys were alive."

"they didn't."

Rachel soon started laughing after listening to their conversation because she suddenly remembered Ross having this same discussion with her in the very same display. He was so frustrated that night because they had them holding clay pots when they didn't even know how to use tools then.

Talk about Deja Vu

Ross looked at her when she started to laugh and knew she remembered the same exact thing he was remembering. They simply smiled at each other and continued to walk to the next display.

I guess some things never change


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Ross was woken up from his deep slepp when he felt hands running all over his face and tiny fingers squuezzi

**A/N: **Again, I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. Thanks for your reviews and thanks to all of you who continue to read this. It really means a lot.

--

A few hours later the group of four made their way to the exit of the museum and back onto the streets of New York City. Rachel was wheeling Emma in her stroller and Ben was walking right along side Ross as they left the museum. They barely made it out the doors before Ben decided to run in the direction of a group of pigeons gathered in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Ahhhhhh…" he screamed as he ran towards the pigeons with his hands up in the air.

The pigeons soon flew away in all different directions making Ben and Emma laugh in excitement.

"Ben, leave the birds alone," his father warned.

"Come on Dad, it's so much fun.

"Ben," Emma shouted from her stroller with her hands up in the air indicating she wanted her brother to lift her out of it.

Ben soon ran his way back over to the group and lifted her out of the stroller. He put her down on the ground and she instantly grabbed for his hand and held it tightly in hers. They both just stood there waiting for the adults to tell them what was the next plan of action was going to be.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Rachel questioned

"well, it's still early in the day. How about we go to Central Park for a little bit. I mean it isn't that far of a walk."

"yeah, lets go to the park."

"pawk, pawk, pawk," Emma shouted excitedly, jumping up and down.

"The park," Rachel stated with a bit of fear in her voice

"oh, come on. I thought you were over your silly little fear. You saw how much Emma was enjoying herself and I saw you having fun too. Admit it."

"okay, okay. Yes, it was fun and Emma loves it, which is all that really matters. And what are you calling a silly fear, Mr. I'm still afraid of spiders. At least I got over my fear."

"hey, there are tons of people out there afraid of spiders. How many people are afraid of playground swings?"

"guys, are we going to the park or not," Ben said rather impatiently interrupting their nonsense argument.

Ross and Rachel just looked at Ben and Emma who were looking at them with pleading eyes, just waiting to get a move on.

"yes, we are going to the park. Just lead the way."

Ben started walking, still holding Emma's hand and they went in the direction of the park. Ross and Rachel were right behind them with Rachel pushing the stroller. They knew they were getting close to the park when they started seeing street vendors selling gifts and food. The second Ben's eyes landed on the ice-cream vendor he had to get some

"oh Dad, can me and Emma get some ice cream, pleaseeeee?"

"Ben it's the end of November. Do you really need ice cream?"

"Dad, are you really asking me that question. Of course I want ice cream and so does Emma. Right Em?"

Emma nodded her head rapidly

"daddy, iceceam, iceceam."

Ross simply looked at Rachel who was just laughing and holing her hands up in the air.

"It's fine with me."

"okay, you guys can have ice-cream."

Once those words left Ross' mouth, Ben made a mad dash to the oncoming vendor.

"Ben don't run, and wait for your sister."

Ben stopped and turned around to face them and saw Emma coming towards him as fast as her little chubby legs could take her. He grabbed her hand and they walked together to the ice cream vendor.

"okay, so what do you guys want?" Ross asked

"I want a firecracker ice pop."

"sweetie, what do you want?"

Emma pointed at the picture on the cart to show her dad what she wanted.

"you want the Dora ice pop baby?"

Emma clapped her hands showing him that that was the right answer

"and Rach, do you want anything? Remember my treat"

"umm….I guess I'll have a cone with a twist of vanilla and chocolate ice-cream with colored sprinkles."

"ok, it's on the way." He then turned his attention to the worker in the truck "hi, we'll have one firecracker ice pop, one Dora ice pop and vanilla-chocolate twist in a cone with colored sprinkles please."

"that's 10 sir."

Ross handed him the money and they waited for their ice cream

"your not going to get anything, Ross?"

"nah, not really in the mood for it"

"well you can share mine if you want too."

"uh thanks but no thanks."

Rachel looked at him strangely and was going to question him but they soon all got what they ordered and Rachel put Emma back in her stroller so she can eat her ice pop. They continued their trek to Central Park all very content with what they were eating.

"here, Ross you want some?" Rachel asked offering him some of her ice-cream.

She lifted it to his face but he soon pushed it away.

"oh that's right, I remember now. You're the weirdo who doesn't like ice cream."

"it hurts my teeth," he said very defensively.

"riiight" she said laughing as she continued to lick her treat.

A few minutes later they were at the park and proceeded to the playground area. Once there they all took a seat on a bench to finish their ice-cream. Emma didn't have that much to finish since it was by now all over her face and hands and shirt for that matter

"Emma, you have to stop hanging around Uncle Joey. Your starting take on his eating habits." Rachel told her daughter as she cleaned her face with a baby wipe. "was that good sweetheart?"

"yummy, yummy," she said patting her belly.

"Do you want go play now?"

Rachel didn't have to ask her twice. She was already trying to climb out of her carriage herself

"okay, hold on there little girl. Let me get you out of there."

Rachel lifted her out and then placed her on her lap

"Ben are you done eating?"

"yep. Lets go"

"Ross, you'll be okay with watching the stuff right?"

"yep, go go. I'll watch you guys from over here."

Rachel, Emma and Ben walked over to the swings and Rachel placed Emma in the baby swings and Ben hopped on a bigger swing right next to them.

"I'm going to swing higher than you Emma."

"nooooooo."

"yesssssss."

Ben kept pumping his legs harder and harder and was soon swinging high in the air. When he reached the right height he suddenly jumped off the swing flying into the air before landing right on his feet.

"be careful Ben,"

"don't worry I will, Aunt Rachel," he said as he wondered off to play on something else.

Emma' hair blew in the breeze as Rachel kept pushing her back and forth.

"Wave to daddy Emma"

Emma happily waved at her father from a distance and Ross soon returned the wave. Ross didn't like just sitting there anymore so he carefully hung the diaper bag over his shoulder and walked over to Rachel and Emma

"Ross, what are you doing? I don't want anyone to take the stroller."

"Rach, it's fine. No one will take it."

"you better hope not or you're a dead man."

He just rolled his eyes and laughed at how worried she was over such little things.

After swinging for awhile Rachel lifted her out of the swing and they all looked for Ben. They saw him swinging across the monkey bars and of course Emma wanted to try after seeing her big brother do it. She lifted her arms up in the air

:"mommy up"

Rachel smiled and picked her daughter up and she grabbed onto the bars as tightly as she could. Rachel held her and walked as Emma grabbed onto one bar after another

"good job Em," Ben encouraged her.

"I'm a big gwrl mommy,"

"you sure are sweetie"

"be careful you two."

"Ross I got her. She's fine."

"I know. I just get nervous."

"Emma I think daddy needs a kiss from his big girl."

"yay."

Emma let go of the bars and Rachel carried her over to Ross. Emma kissed him on the lips and they just smiled

"aww, thank you princess. You did such a good job on the monkey bars," he said as he brushed some hair behind her ear. "you want to go on the slide now?"

Emma shook her head yes and pointed in the direction of the slide. The slide was kind of on the big side and it was enclosed and it swirled down like a corkscrew

"Ben, can you go down this with her?"

"Sure Aunt Rachel. Lets go Emma."

They both climbed up the jungle gym to get to the top of the slide. Ben sat down first and then placed Emma in between his legs.

"Are you ready Em?"

"YAY!!," she screamed

Ross and Rachel could hear them talking from where they were standing on the ground waiting for them to come down. They both started laughing when they heard the screams that were coming from Emma as she slid down. They soon saw her face appear at the bottom of the slide and she was giggling away.

"Ben, more!!

"Ben it looks like your going to be doing this for awhile." Ross said and both he and Rachel laughed.

Ben took Emma back to the top of the slide and went down again, and again and again

--

Ross and Rachel both took a seat once again on the bench and watched as Ben and Emma played on the grass. They were playing tag and now Emma was trying to chase Ben. Every time Emma was close to tagging him, Ben would quickly move out of the way so she couldn't touch him. She was laughing the whole time and he finally let her tag him. She would run with all her might away from him and he would pretend she was too fast for him but he would eventually tag her. This went on for a few minutes before Ben finally got tired and laid down on the grass. Emma decided it was a very good idea to lay on top of him so she laid herself on top of her stomach. They both started laughing as Ben started tickling her.

Ross and Rachel just watched on as brother and sister spend some quality time with one another

"They really love each other don't they," Rachel said suddenly disrupting the silence

"they really do."

They continued to look on and both only smiled wider when they saw Ben and Emma give each other a loving kiss on the lips with Emma still on his stomach.

"I just wish they got to spend more time with each other, you know?"

"yeah, I know," Rachel said agreeing with him.

It really was a shame they didn't see each other all the time like other siblings do but Ross and Rachel were just thankful for the time they did get to spend together. The couple was soon joined by two very out of breath children.

"Dad….me and Emma are hungry"

Ross looked at his watch and saw that it was almost dinner time

"okay, why don't we head home now."

They all agreed, gathered up their belongings and soon fetched a cab to take them home.

Since Rachel and Emma were now occupying the bedroom Ben would normally sleep in, it was decided that Ben would just sleep with Ross for the night. Rachel got up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and was surprised to see someone inhabiting the couch. She stood over him and smiled

"Ross…"she whispered

Nothing…..

"Ross.." she whispered again and lightly shook his shoulder.

Ross started to stir and slowly opened his eyes. He squinted a bit and tried to make out the person standing over him

"Rach?"

"yeah, it's me. What are you doing out here? Why aren't you in bed with Ben?"

He lifted his body up slightly and let out a big yawn before he spoke.

"I was but then I remembered he is a kicker so I didn't think it was a good idea sleeping with him. I didn't want him to kick me in my broken leg or stomach so I decided to sleep out here."

"but Ross, that cant be comfortable"

"it's no big deal."

"Ross, you were practically falling off the couch when I came out here."

"I'm fine out here."

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable. Why…..why don't you….just sleep in my room with me,"

His eyes widened a bit after she said this

"uh….I…I…don't think that is such a good idea."

"well, it can't be good for you body being squished up like that on the couch. Just go in my room. I'm just going to get some water"

"Rach…I don't…"

"it's fine okay."

They just looked at each other until Ross finally gave in

"okay, I guess….I guess I'll meet you in there," he said laughing trying to hide his nervousness

"okay," she said smiling and then took off to the kitchen

Ross got up slowly and walked to her room with his crutches. Before he went to the bed he checked on his daughter. She was sleeping soundly in her crib breathing in and out. He knew she was dreaming because tiny noises were emitting from her mouth and he just smiled. He turned around to walk to the bed and he saw Rachel entering the room.

"I was just checking on Emma"

"sleeping?"

"like an angel"

Rachel smiled and nodded her head as she walked to her side of the bed. She crawled under the covers and waited for Ross to do the same. He shut off the bedside lamp and got under the covers and laid down on his back and rested his head on the pillow.

God, her scent was everywhere and he couldn't deny that he liked it. It reminded him of old times. He soon heard her moving around and realized she turned on her side to face him. He could feel her eyes on him as she laid down on her pillow. He turned his head to the side so he could look at her and he was right. Her eyes were already on him. They just smiled at each other and looked into the others eyes.. She suddenly spoke

"so, this is the second night in a row we are sharing the same bed. That hasn't happened in quite some time. Now, is this going to be a nightly occurrence?"

They both started laughing

"well it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it?"

"no it would not," she responded seriously.

Ross couldn't tell since there was much light illuminating the room but he thought she was moving her body closer to his. He would like to think that she was.

"thank you for coming with me today. I had a lot of fun."

"I did too," she said smiling. "and I'm glad I came."

"me too."

They were quiet for awhile again. Rachel started to fidget around with her legs and accidentally hit his leg with her foot. She quickly snapped it back and looked at him

"sorry,"

"that's okay," he said as he let out a slight laugh "your feet are really cold."

"yeah, you know they always get like that at night."

And he did know. When they were dating her feet would get like icicles and when they laid in bed together they would cuddle, intertwining their legs and her feet would warm up from being so close to his body.

"yeah."

As they looked at each other Ross noticed her eyes were beginning to close for a bit but then open again suddenly. He knew she was getting tired but was trying to stay awake for him.

"you ready to go to sleep."

"yeah," she said as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"ok"

"goodnight Ross."

"night Rach."

They both closed their eyes shortly after and smiled a bit in their sleep. Neither of them knew it but at the same time they both moved their bodies inward so they would become closer to one another. This made their faces only centimeters apart and it will be very interesting to see the position they wake up in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: yes, I finally have an update

**A/N: **yes, I finally have an update. I already started on the next one so the next chapter should be up sooner than my past ones. So thanks again for all of you who continue to read this story.

---------------------------------------------------------

The bright morning sun shining through her bedroom window complemented with the relentless honking of horns and the ceaseless yelling of the fellow city-goers soon brought Rachel out of her peaceful slumber. A slight groan emanated from her mouth as she slipped out of her unconsciousness

She was never really a morning person.

Like every morning she started to bury her face into her pillow not ready to face the world yet but what she felt against her face this morning was not the soft fabric of her pillow cushion. She slowly opened her eyes still in a minor daze and began to focus. She stared at her hand and watched as it rose and fell in a rhythmic manner still not fully aware of what was going on. She lifted her head slightly and looked up only to find Ross looking down at her as the corner of his lips soon curved up into a smile. She returned the smile weakly and looked back at her hand as she began gathering her thoughts in her head. A look of confusion spread across her face when she realized her hand was resting on Ross' chest and that her body was cuddled to his side pressed up against his body. She quickly distanced herself from his body and looked at him.

"wow, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was sleeping on you," she said a bit embarrassed.

"it's okay Rach. It's not big deal," he said smiling at her.

"how long have you been up?" she asked as she ran her fingers though her hair.

"umm….like 20 minutes."

"20 minutes!!! I was sleeping on you for 20 minutes! Why didn't you move me over? That must have been so uncomfortable for you with me just laying on you."

"Rach, you laying on me is never uncomfortable. It never was."

She smiled and looked down at the mattress so he couldn't see her blush.

"and you just looked so peaceful, I didn't want to move you."

"well I didn't hurt you or anything from laying on you like that, did I?" she asked slightly worried about causing him any sort of pain.

"no Rach you were fine. Although, I think you did drool on my shirt a little bit."

"oh my god, I did not," she said, sounding horrified.

She soon looked down at his shirt and began rubbing her hand over his stomach and chest trying to feel for any wetness.

"I'm just kidding, but now I think you are trying to feel me up," he said laughing at her.

"oh shut up," she said slapping his arm.

He soon retaliated and gave her a slight shove as they both started laughing.

"don't start with me, it's too early in the morning," she said still laughing.

"fine, I'll just do it later then."

She started laughing, shaking her head at him.

"and it looks like your feet warmed up throughout the night."

Rachel looked at him and then realized what he was referring too. She soon took notice that her one leg was draped and now resting in between his with her foot touching his. In one swift motion she detangled her leg from in between his and looked down embarrassed.

"wow, I really was sleeping all over you wasn't I," she said laughing slightly out of nervousness.

"yeah you were. I guess I was pretty comfortable," he said joining in on her nervous laughter.

She looked at him and a hint of a smile emerged on her face.

"you were. I was really out. I didn't even hear Emma. Wait, is Emma up yet?" she asked suddenly, her eyes darting to her daughter's crib.

"yeah, I heard her and Ben in the living room. I guess he took her while we were sleeping because I didn't hear her get up either."

"well that was very sweet of him. I hope you don't mind, but I think I am going to take advantage of Ben keeping Emma entertained and just lay down a bit longer," she said smiling at him, laying back down on her pillow.

"no I'm with you there," he agreed laying back down next to her.

She turned on her side so she can look at him and pulled the blankets up closer to her body. As she did this he tried to make himself comfortable while laying on his back and then turned his head to the side to look at her.

"so do you have any plans today?" he asked.

"yeah my day is pretty much booked, you know with me just staying home with Emma and taking care of you," she said teasing him.

"hey, I am getting better with the taking care of myself thing."

"I know, I am only kidding. I really don't mind taking care of you. You're not _that_ bad to be around."

"well you're not that bad to be around either. To be honest, it feels nice. I mean, we haven't really spent time together just us in a long time."

"yeah…." she said softly staring right at him.

"and it's great for Emma. It's almost like were a real family."

"Ross, we are a real family," she said reaching out to touch his arm

"yeah," he said quietly, then turning his head to look away from her.

Rachel knew by how he spoke that he didn't believe it and that broke her heart. She wanted to be the traditional family with the whole marriage and then babies but things just weren't that way with her and Ross. But she knew they were a family and always will be no matter what happened between them. They will forever be bonded because of Emma and that put Rachel a little bit at piece because she knew she would always have a piece of Ross with her.

"hey, how about me, you and Emma all do something together today instead of staying in this apartment all day long."

"okay," he said looking back at her with a big smile on his face.

He loved doing things with all three of them together. It made him believe for just a moment that they were a conventional family.

"well I was thinking, Emma was too young to remember when we got a Christmas tree last year, how about we do that today? And we can invite the guys as well."

"Ross, that's a great idea. Emma will love it."

All of a sudden they heard a bang and then the loud sounds of Emma crying. Ross and Rachel's eyes both widened.

"Oh my god," Rachel said, quickly rushing out of bed afraid to see what had happened to her baby.

She hurried into the living room only to find Emma on the floor crying hysterically with Ben trying to pick her up to console her. Emma saw her mother coming into the room and cried even harder.

"mommy," she cried her bottom lip quivering

Rachel immediately picked her up and rocked her in her arms, kissing her head.

"oh mommy's here sweetheart, shhhh….it's okay…shhhhh."

Ross soon came stumbling into the room with crutches in hand seeing Rachel cradling Emma in her arms trying to calm her down. He walked over to them and began rubbing Emma's back up and down as she continued to cry on Rachel's shoulder.

"oh, princess what happened?"

"we were playing and running around and she tripped on one of her toys and fell on the ground. She didn't hit her head though," Ben answered, "Emma are you ok?"

She looked at her brother and shook her head yes as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks.

"awww, it's okay baby girl," Rachel cooed to her daughter, wiping the few remaining tears off her face.

"boo boo," Emma whined pointing to her elbow.

"mommy, will make it all better," Rachel comforted as she bent her head down to kiss her baby's arm.

Emma smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, resting her head once again on her shoulder. Rachel took a seat on the couch, with Emma still in her arms and stroked her back.

"uh, Dad? Can you make me and Emma breakfast? We are kind of hungry."

"oh of course. What do you guys want?"

"pancakes!"

"oh Ben, I don't think you father can make…"

"pancakes it is," he quickly interrupted her and giving her a glare.

Rachel laughed at him and kept her mouth shut. She knew he would do anything for his children and if pancakes is what they wanted pancakes is what they were getting.

"daddy, chips," Emma said happily, perking right back up with the mention of food.

"yes daddy will put chocolate chips in them," Ross answered bending over to kiss her forehead.

"how about we keep daddy company in the kitchen?" Rachel suggested.

"yay!!" Emma screamed clapping her hands

The four of them all walked into the kitchen and Ben took a seat at the small table as Rachel placed Emma in her high chair.

"uh, Rach can you give me a hand?"

"oh sure."

She walked over to him and helped him get all the ingredients he needed.

"oh don't forget to get the chocolate chips for Emma."

"you just give her everything she wants, don't you?" she said smiling at him

"of course I do. She's my princess"

"boy, is she going to have you wrapped around her little finger when she gets older,"

"I can't help it. She will always be my baby girl," he said with all honesty.

"I know," she said smiling as she rubbed his back gently up and down.

They finished making everyone's breakfast together and then brought it to the table.

"thanks dad"

"tanks daddy," Emma said copying her brother.

"your welcome."

Rachel attempted to clear her throat signaling them they forgot something or in this case someone. Ben got the hint and started laughing.

"thanks Aunt Rachel"

"your welcome Ben."

"tank you mommy"

"you are very welcome baby girl," she said giving Emma a kiss on the lips.

Rachel fixed Emma her plate and began feeding her pieces of pancake. Emma was just starting to get the hang of feeding herself. She still hasn't mastered the skill and Rachel felt syrup and Emma feeding herself was not a good combination so she was helping her out a bit. While Rachel fed Emma, Ross and Ben dug right in both drenching their pancakes in syrup. Like father, like son Rachel couldn't help but think.

"Ben, what time did you get up?" Rachel asked starting conversation.

"umm…..I guess an hour ago. I was watching TV for a while and then I heard Emma making some noise in your bedroom. I hope it's okay that I went in and got her."

"oh yeah, of course. And thank you for getting her. I didn't even hear her get up."

"yeah you guys were sleeping."

"mommy seeping on daddy," Emma suddenly informed them all.

Ross and Rachel both looked at Emma and saw a big smile on her face.

"yeah. Dad why were you sleeping in Aunt Rachel's room? I thought you were sleeping with me last night?"

They quickly looked at each other kind of embarrassed that Ben and Emma saw them together. It didn't really occur to them earlier that they had in fact saw them sleeping in the same bad, and sleeping rather closely. Ross soon answered his question the best he could.

"your right. I was going to sleep with you Ben but you are a kicker and I didn't want to be kicked in my ribs or leg."

"ohhhhhhh, ok," he said satisfied with that answer.

He resumed eating his pancakes as Ross and Rachel stole another glance at one another. She then turned her attention to Emma who was by now a complete mess. As Rachel was talking to Ben, Emma took it upon herself to feed herself with her hands. She had syrup all over her face and hands as well as chocolate.

"ohh…Emma, look at you. You're a mess sweetie," she said as everyone started to laugh.

"yummyyyyy!!!"

"Rach, you might as well just let her finish eating before you clean her up"

"yeah I guess your right. Do you like mommy and daddy's pancakes honey?"

All Emma did was nod yes with mouthful of food and even more food being squished in her hands. The rest of them soon finished off their own breakfast before getting ready to start the day.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **thanks you guys for the reviews!!!!

Exintaris: I always thought Rachel was Jewish too but they never really said at least I can't remember them saying it. They were always celebrating Christmas together anyway so for the sake of the story let's just say she is part Jewish and part Catholic :)

Later in the evening Ross and Rachel told the group about their idea about taking Emma to get a Christmas tree. Ben was a little bummed that he couldn't go too, but he soon got over it when his mother told him about going to the movies with his friends. They decided they were all going to meet at the 6:30 and surprisingly Ross and Rachel were ready to leave on time.

"okay, just let me grab Emma's diaper bag and we're all set."

"ok, take your time," he said as both he and Emma were waiting patiently in front of the door.

"oh shoot I need to get an empty bottle," she said rushing into the kitchen

"Rach, don't rush, we are actually right on time," he shouted almost laughing at this fact

"I know, how did that even happen," she pondered as she walked through the swinging door back into the living room.

"it's a mystery to me as well. Ok, you got everything?"

"yeah I think so. Sweetie, let mommy zipper up your coat"

Rachel kneeled down so she was eye level with Emma and zipped up the toddler's winter jacket. She made sure her hat was firmly on her head before giving her a loving kiss on the forehead

"are you ready to get our Christmas tree Em?"

"yay," Emma squealed, jumping up and down.

"Alright, is mother and child ready?" he asked smiling at them

Rachel starting laughing as she picked Emma up, balancing her on her hip

"we are all set."

"go, daddy, do," Emma shouted pointing in the direction of the outside hallway

Ross smiled at his daughter and kissed her tiny finger.

"let's go."

"so is everyone ready to pick out their Christmas tree?" Monica asked, already showing that take charge attitude in her voice.

"yeah, but Mon relax. We all just got here," Phoebe soon reminded her

"yeah, yeah I know. But I want to get the best and biggest one."

"and I'm sure you won't let anyone get in your way to make that happen. I mean, you did bring your whistle, right?" Phoebe said laughing at herself

Rachel immediately broke into giggles as she remembered Monica whole whistle idea when they were shopping for her wedding dress. Monica soon looked right at them and Rachel stopped laughing, unlike Phoebe who couldn't stop laughing. Mike felt it would be best to bring up something else. He was starting to fear of that vein in Monica's forehead.

"so uh….Ross how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Everything seems to be healing properly and I'm actually getting my stitches out in a few days."

"and what about the cast?"

"I'm hoping it's off by your wedding. So what, that's gives me a month and a half, two months. I think it will be off by then."

"oh, I hope it's off by then too. It wont be any fun for you too be at a wedding with crutches," Rachel told him.

"I know."

Monica was just standing there looking at them, not believing they were talking like this, something they all did every single day of their lives. It was time to get a tree.

"are we done yet? Can we look for a tree now?"

Suddenly a very hot young blonde walked passed the group, immediately catching Joey's attention

"yeah, Ill see you guys later," he said chasing after her.

"Come on Mike, let's look for a tree that is dying," she said dragging him by the hand, leaving Mike in complete bewilderment.

"mommy!!!" Emma soon whined, tugging on her hand, "I want tee."

"oh I'm sorry baby. We are all ready now, okay."

A big smiled emerged on her face and she held onto Rachel's hand and started dragging her in the direction of all the green trees.

"Come on Ross,"

"I'm right behind you."

"daddy, I wan big tee."

"you pick out whatever one you want princess," he said as the three off them walked off into the distance.

"would you look at them" Monica said quietly as she watched her brother and best friend with their daughter.

"yeah, they both look really happy," Chandler said.

Monica smiled to herself as she gazed at the family of three. Emma was holding onto Rachel's hand and with her free hand she touched each passing tree while Ross and Rachel were talking and laughing with one another.

"Mon…..Mon…..MONICA!!!"

"what?"

"the tree,"

"right" she said shaking her head, " let's find our tree."

"so I'm guessing you wont be teaching Emma about the miracle of Hanukkah and the Maccabees ?"

They both started laughing.

"no, my son didn't even want to listen to me. I don't think my one year daughter wants to listen to it either"

"yeah, I think your right on that one."

"I'll tell her the story when she is a little older."

"ok, but when we get home we should take out your menorah. She should know she celebrates both holidays."

"okay," he said smiling at her. "Sweetie, do you like this tree?"

Emma made a face and shook her head no. She wanted something bigger. She continued walking throughout the lot holding onto her mother's hand searching for her tree. When she saw a really big one she smiled.

"daddy, this tee, this tee."

"I think we found a winner," he said

Rachel lifted her up into her arms as they admired the chosen tree

"oh Emma, it's so pretty. You picked out the best one in here," Rachel said in a very excited voice trying to please her daughter.

Emma just smiled widely very proud of herself

"Ross is that going to fit in the apartment?" she whispered over to Ross hoping Emma wouldn't hear her.

He looked at it up and down and smiled

"yeah it should. I guess we need to get a worker to tie it up for us."

Ross soon got a worker and the three of them stood back and watched as their Christmas tree was being tied up for them. They were told to head towards the front of the lot so they can pay and when they were ready to leave they would have to tie it to the car or cab in this case.

"Ross why didn't you let me for pay half of it?"

"because I wanted to buy the tree for my daughter and you, okay."

"okay fine, but you have to let me pay for things sometimes."

"no I don't."

"Ross!"

"okay, fine you can pay for things, just not that tree."

"fine," she said giving up the argument. "Man, my feet are killing me."

"well Rach, who told you to wear heels to go Christmas tree shopping?"

"but these are my favorite pair."

"but they hurt your feet!"

"so!"

"you know, what? Let's take a seat on the bench over there while we wait for everyone else."

"good idea."

She walked over to the nearby bench and the two of them took a seat with Emma on Rachel's lap. Emma was facing her mother with her legs around Rachel's waist and she soon leaned forward to rest her head on Rachel's chest. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes as Rachel held her close to her body.

"looks like someone is getting sleepy," Ross said as he brushed Emma's bangs that were sticking out from under her hat away from her eyes.

"yeah, she didn't take a nap today."

"I'm sure she'll be out during the car ride home."

"yeah, probably."

Rachel's body suddenly shook out of nowhere as she got a chill.

"are you cold?"

"a little. I should have worn my heavier jacket. I'm glad I put Emma in this one."

Ross began to inch closer to her as he brought an arm around her shoulder pulling her closer to his body, moving his hand up and down her arm trying to create warmth. She looked at him and smiled

"don't want you girls to be cold," he said smiling back at her

"thank you."

She pulled her baby closer to her and closed her eyes leaning her cheek on the top of Emma's head. It wasn't long until the warmth entered back into her body as Ross continued to rub her arm. They stayed like that for quite some time both being very comfortable in each others close presence. Rachel still had her eyes closed, resting her cheek on Emma as Ross watched his princess beginning to fall asleep. The rest of the group soon joined them.

"hey guys, did you find a tree?"

Rachel lifted her head when she heard Ross speak and saw her 5 friends standing before her.

"well there are so many green ones, buy luckily we found this small brown one."

Monica just closed her eyes and shook her head laughing over Phoebe's statement. She was really one of a kind. She then directed her attention to Ross and Rachel

"yeah we got ours too. We just have to pay for it and then tie it to a cab. What are you guys doing?" she questioned, eyeing the closeness of the two.

Ross and Rachel looked at each other and he realized his arm was still around her body. He slowly removed it and placed it back at his side as he adjusted his body on the bench

"we uh were just waiting for you guys. We already got our tree so I guess we can head home."

Everyone nodded and decided they would meet back here in a few minutes as the rest of the group paid for their tree. Ross took a hold of his crutches before lifting himself to his feet and Rachel stood with Emma still in her arms. Emma looked around for a bit before resting her head on her mother's shoulders and closing her eyes once again.

"She's almost out."

"I know, she's like a dead weight in my arms."

"Come on, I'll get a cab."

"Ross I can't do this!"

"Rach, come on. It's not that hard. Joey and Chandler already put it in the stand for us. I would do it but I can't bend down"

"yeah but they put it in crooked and this tree weighs a friggin' ton."

"All you have to do is just loosen the screws in the stand and adjust the tree so it's not crooked."

"yeah easier said then done Ross," she huffed as she sat on her knees looking up at him

She bent over so she can look under the tree and began loosening the screws from the stand. She sat back up and began moving the tree to the left to try and straighten it up.

"How is it now?"

"uh…..move it a little more to the left," he said as he inspected the view from a far.

"now?"

"yeah, that good."

She tightened the screws back in place and stood back up next to Ross, crossing her arms over her chest as they both admired the tree.

"hmmm….I think it needs to be a little more to the right."

She looked at him giving him an 'are you kidding me look'. Ross started laughing

"I'm just kidding."

She finally broke into a smile and gave him a gentle shove.

"you better be kidding because I'm not going to fix it."

"well you did very good."

"why thank you," she said bending over towards him in a cute little way while smiling "Emma, sweetie come look at our tree."

At the mention of her name Emma looked up from her pile of toys and walked over to her parents. She stood in between them and wrapped an arm around one of Rachel's legs and looked at the tree. She smiled widely and looked up at her mother.

"pitty tee."

"I know, didn't mommy do a good job Em?"

She turned her head so she was now facing her father. She looked at him and shook her head up and down

"good tob mommy," she said as she kissed her mothers leg

"thank you baby," Rachel said smiling as she ran her fingers through the top of Emma's hair

Emma got bored rather quickly just looking at the tree so she soon walked away to turn her attention back to her toys on the floor. Ross and Rachel let their eyes wander away from the tree as their eyes traveled to their daughter. They both had smiles on their faces when they watched Emma as she played with her baby Ariel doll. They finally looked back at each other and Rachel noticed an odd expression on his face

"what?"

"I think you just have some pine needles in your hair."

"I do, where?" she asked as she ran her hands through her honey colored hair.

"here, let me."

Rachel stepped closer to him and watched as he brought his hand up to his face. He looked her in the eyes as he pulled out the tiny pieces of pine needle that were stuck in her hair. They never broke eye contact as he finally got the last piece that was stuck in her bangs right above her eye.

"thanks," she said softly

He let his hand travel down the side of her face as he brushed away her bangs with his fingers before resting his hand on her cheek. She smiled as she leaned her head slightly into his hand. When the air around them turned serious Ross removed his hand from her face and cleared his throat

"I uh…I should take the menorah out of the box."

Rachel nodded her head as they both tried avoiding one another's eyes. He maneuvered his way around her with his crutches as she stepped back a bit so he could pass her. When he walked right in front of her his one crutch got stuck in one of Emma's toys that was on the floor causing him to become unsteady. He began to shake as he couldn't catch his balance causing him to fall onto Rachel with his crutches falling to the ground. Rachel wasn't prepared for all this weight to fall against her and she stumbled backwards onto the couch with Ross on top of her. The moment her back hit the cushion of the couch, they both rolled over as they fell on the floor with Rachel now on top of Ross.

Even though Ross was in an incredible amount of pain he couldn't stop laughing. The way they just rolled off the couch and onto the floor made him laugh even harder as he though about it and Rachel joined in on the hysterics.

"Are…you…okay?" she tried asking in between her laughter.

"I'm not sure yet," he said as his laughter began to subside.

Once the laughing dwindled down they both left laying on the floor with Rachel laying on top of his body. His hands were on her lower back as one of her legs fell in between his. They looked at one another still smiling thinking about the hilarity that just occurred.

"are you okay Ross?"

"yeah I think so. You didn't land on my leg and you weigh as light as a feather so I'm fine," he said smiling at her

"Ok good"

"yeah."

There was that moment of silence where all they could do was look at each other. The sexual tension was thick and they didn't dare look away. Chills were sent down her spine when she felt Ross slip his hand underneath the fabric of her shirt to feel her smooth skin of her lower back beneath his fingertips. She eyed his bottom lips a bit and then locked gazes with him once again. With his other hand he brushed some hair away from her face that had fallen into her eyes. At that moment in time all she wanted to do was lean in and kiss the lips that she missed so much and that's exactly what she felt her self doing. They both closed their eyes as she leaned her head down waiting to feel the soft ness of his lips against hers. She could almost feel his lips, taste him when…..

"mommy, bottle."

They both immediately opened their eyes and they can just see the disappointment in the other eyes. Emma had the most unfortunate timing.

"ok baby, I will get you a bottle in a second," she said as she gazed at Ross' lips.

She looked in his eyes once more before she slowly got off of his body. He sat up and she helped him off the ground as he sat on the couch. She got his crutches that fell on the floor and leaned them against the arm of the couch.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly

"oh..okay."

She soon disappeared into the kitchen and Ross leaned back onto the couch closing his eyes. What was that and why was he so disappointed that it stopped? Well, of course he knew why. He was so disappointed because all he wanted to do for the past couple of months was kiss those lips again. He missed her so much, not only did he miss her he missed being loved by her and all their intimate moments that had once shared. He continued to think about the moment that had just came and went when she reentered into the living room.

"here you go baby girl."

Rachel handed her daughter a bottle of milk and she took it eagerly. As she drank her bottle she began rubbing her eyes with her tiny fist.

"it's past your bedtime little girl. Time to go to sleep."

Rachel bent over and lifted Emma into her arms as she continued to drink her bottle.

"I'm going to take her to bed."

"yeah, I think I'm going to head off to bed too. My ribs are starting to hurt from the fall" he told her as he grabbed his crutches and both walked their way to the back of the apartment

"are you sure your alright?"

"yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"okay."

"goodnight. Goodnight princess," he said as he kissed her head and headed towards his bedroom.

Emma took the bottle out of her mouth and looked at him

"daddy, seep with me and mommy," she said pointing at Rachel's bedroom.

Ross and Rachel both looked at each other.

"I guess she's used to us all in the same room since it's been like that the past two nights."

"Emma sweetie, I'm going to sleep in my room okay."

"seep with daddy," she said as she tried reaching for her father

"ok, do you want to sleep with daddy tonight Emma?"

Emma looked at her mother and nodded her head up and down. Ross just smiled and the three of them walked into his bedroom. Emma was already in her pajamas so Rachel placed her on the bed and tucked her in under the covers. Ross got situated on his side of the bed as Emma laid her head on the pillow. Rachel bent over to give her a kiss on the forehead and brushed some of the hair away from her face.

"good night baby."

"nite mommy," she said before sticking her bottle back into her mouth

"I'll see you two in the morning," she said looking over at Ross.

"ok."

She smiled at him as she left the room leaving the door slightly opened.

"okay Emma you want me to read you a bedtime story"

Emma shook her head yes and Ross could see her smiling through her bottle. He opened the drawer in his nightstand and took out one of Emma's favorite stories "I'll Love you Forever. " He began reading it softly to her as she stared at the pictures in the book and tugged on her hair twirling it around her finger as she listened intently. Rachel was getting out of the bathroom, heading back to her room when she heard Ross talking to Emma as he passed by. She walked to the door and peeked in through the crack and smiled when she saw Ross reading to her. She stayed there for quite some time and just watched as Ross finished the story as Emma began to doze off. She dropped her bottle from her mouth and snuggled up close to her father's side. When he knew she was asleep he put the book away and secured the blankets more tightly around her tiny body. He shut off the light and laid on his back and closed his eyes with a smile on his face. Rachel continued to look at the two of them sleeping for a few more minutes before heading back to her bedroom

A few hours later she woke up from her sleep with the annoying sensation that she had to pee. She dragged her feet from the bed and went into the bathroom. When she exited the room she once again passed by Ross bedroom and couldn't help but look at the two of them once more. When she peeked in the room she saw that the covers were at the foot of the bed. She walked further in and smiled when she saw his arm around Emma as she cuddled into her father's side. She pulled the covers up around Emma and kissed the side of her head. She then walked around to the other side of the bed to pull the covers back onto Ross' body. She just stared at him. As much as she tried to deny it and how afraid she was to admit it she never stopped loving the man lying before her. She ran her hand through his thick hair and touched his forehead lightly with her fingers. She smiled remembering all the times she used to do the exact same movements in the past whenever he fell asleep before her. She would then remove her hand from he face and then give him a kiss on the forehead and a soft kiss on the lips as he slept. But now it was different. They weren't a couple and she couldn't give him her goodnight kiss. She sighed slightly and made her way over to the door.

"good night Rachel."

She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around. Looking back at him, she saw his eyes were already closed. She smiled at him knowing he wasn't really asleep but she didn't say anything. She left the room, closing the door behind her. She looked back at the closed door and lightly pressed her hand up against it as she closed her eyes briefly.

"good night Ross," she whispered and then headed towards her bedroom


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: yep, I finally have an update to this story. Sorry, its been so long and hank you again for all your reviews :)**

With each passing day the kiss almost shared between the two only became a distant memory, another missed opportunity that passed them by. Neither of them even dared to mention it the next morning making it almost as if it never happened but they both knew how close they really came that night. Voices inside their head just kept saying over and over it was just the situation they were placed in and how close they were to one another that night and nothing more. And that's exactly what they were going to make themselves believe for the time being.

They had other things to focus on, one being it was finally time for Ross to get his stitches out. Ross couldn't wait; they were really starting to itch. Rachel had told him that she would be the one taking him to the doctor but unfortunately they couldn't find a babysitter so Emma would be joining them as well.

"Rach, are you almost ready?" he shouted from the living room

"yeah, I just need to finish getting dressed," she told him as she came walking in the room in her bathrobe, with Emma balanced on her hip.

Ross turned his head from his position on the couch and smiled when he saw the two of them enter the living room.

"uh oh, someone is a naked baby," Ross said referring to his daughter who was only wearing her diaper.

"nakey!" Emma squealed as she grabbed for her diaper, ready to rip it off.

"No Em! Leave your diaper on," Rachel said, grabbing her tiny hand before she can pull it off. "Ross can you do me favor and just dress her. Her clothes are already on my bed."

"Oh yeah sure. Come on princess. Let daddy dress his naked girl."

Emma started laughing, playing with her mother's hair as they walked into Rachel's bedroom. Rachel placed her on the middle of the bed, kissing her on the top of the head.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

When Rachel left the room, Ross turned to look at Emma who was still trying to take her diaper off

"Now, Emma, what did mommy say about your diaper? You have to leave it on silly girl," he said as he tickled her belly, laying her down on the bed.

Emma giggled with delight at the game her daddy was playing with her.

"Where's Emma's belly?"

Emma answered her father's question by pointing to her stomach.

"That's right. This is Emma's belly."

Emma let out a big giggle when Ross blew air onto her stomach making a loud noise come out of his mouth.

"Okay, sweetie. We need to get you dressed or mommy is going to be mad at me."

Emma looked at her father with big eyes and just nodded her head. She grabbed the long sleeved pink shirt that was on the bed next to her and handed it to her father.

"thank you baby," he said kissing her forehead.

Ross pulled the shirt over Emma's head and carefully slipped her arms into the holes of the shirt. He then grabbed the pair of jeans that Rachel had out to match the shirt and put them on Emma.

"Okay Emma. We're all done. I'll let mommy pick out your shoes because I don't know which ones match this outfit. Let's brush your hair."

Ross looked for her baby brush and found it on the dresser. When he brought the brush closer to her hair Emma soon snatched it from his hands. Ross started laughing when Emma ran the brush through her own hair making it even messier than it was.

"Okay sweetie, you can brush your own hair."

When Emma felt she had done a good enough job she handed the brush back to Ross.

"Can daddy do it now?"

"Yes," she answered smiling.

When Ross was finished he found a few baby clips and clipped them throughout her hair, thinking it looked nice. When he was just about finished Rachel re-emerged in the room.

"Ross, is Emma dres…….what…what did you do to my baby's hair?" she said covering her mouth with a hand trying to hold in her laughter.

"What? I think she looks cute."

"Well she always looks cute. She is beautiful," she explained as she took a seat next to Emma, kissing the side of her bead, "but Ross you have like 7 different colored clips in her hair," she said as she took each clip out one by one.

"I was trying to get her hair out of her face."

"Okay, but how about we just use one."

Within seconds, Rachel worked her magic and clipped the front of Emma's hair into one clip. Since her hair wasn't that long yet, all the hair that was in the clip was sticking straight up making her look adorable. Rachel smiled at Emma, leaning forward so their noses touched, looking her in the eyes.

"I don't think daddy should do your hair anymore. We'll just leave that to mommy."

Rachel kissed her forehead as she heard Ross laughing from behind.

"you know its true," she told him.

"hey no argument here," he agreed throwing his hands up. "but I think its time for us to do mommy's hair."

"yay, mommy, yay!" Emma squealed clapping her hands in excitement

"Ross, we're going to be late."

"No we still have some time and besides, Emma, you really want to do mommy's hair right?" he asked shaking his head up and down.

Emma just smiled and repeated his movements shaking her head.

"come daddy," she said patting the spot next to Rachel.

Ross took a seat next to the girls as Emma crawled her way on Rachel's lap.

"here daddy," she said handing him a clip.

"oh so daddy is going to do my hair."

"like Emma's," the baby said pointing to the clip in her own hair.

Ross started laughing and Rachel turned her head to look at him.

"well you heard her. I have to do your hair."

Rachel rolled her eyes at him as he brought his hands to her hair.

"Let's see, what can I do here.'

Ross started running his fingers through her bangs and down her hair. Rachel smiled to herself when she saw the look on his face, so determined and concentrated.

"Now, if I remember correctly this isn't the first time you are doing my hair."

"I think you are mistaken," he said laughing.

"No, no, no. I distinctly remember you doing the same exact thing when we were together. Remember, you were trying to put it in a high ponytail and then I put on my old cheerleading uniform," she said raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. That was a good night," he said laughing.

"Yeah."

"Well I don't think there will be the same ending results," he said hooking an eyebrow.

"Just finish my hair, you"

"Okay."

He ran one final hand through her hair before grabbing her bangs and clipping them tight. Now Rachel's hair was much longer than Emma's so it had a little different look. Ross tried to stifle his laughter in front of his daughter because Emma seemed thrilled with her mother's new look. Emma cupped Rachel's cheeks in her tiny hands and kissed her forehead.

"Pitty mommy."

"Thank you baby," she said kissing her on the lips

"Oh yes Rach, very pretty. You and Emma are now twins."

They both started laughing as Rachel stood up holding Emma in her arms.

"Come on, I think it's time to go."

As they all left the bedroom, Rachel quickly pulled the clip from her hair throwing it back on the dresser.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ross, Rachel, and Emma were waiting patiently in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Emma was keeping herself occupied as she tried to fit all the different sized pieces into the children's puzzle as Ross and Rachel just watched her from their chairs. The three of them were soon joined by another person. Neither Ross nor Rachel tore their gaze from their daughter to acknowledge this new person now occupying the room.

"I feel so bad for you?"

Ross suddenly looked up when he heard an unfamiliar female voice. His eyes soon landed on a very attractive woman sitting two seats away from him.

"I'm sorry. What?"

When Ross acknowledged the woman this got Rachel's attention. She looked up from her daughter and saw a woman, sitting with her legs crossed looking at Ross. An odd feeling began to settle in Rachel's stomach.

"Oh no, I just said I feel bad for you. I broke my leg 2 years ago and it isn't fun."

"No it's not."

"When do you get your cast off?"

"In about a month or so."

"Oh well that's not that bad. I had to leave my cast on for 4 months."

"Wow, you must have been hurt pretty bad. What happened?" After he asked that question, he immediately regretted it. He didn't even know this woman, why was he asking her that, "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me. I didn't really have a right in asking"

"No that's okay," she said smiling at Ross.

When Rachel saw Ross return her smile a hint of jealousy suddenly overcame her. She watched on as Ross and this strange woman continued to talk. Rachel began eyeing this woman up and down. She had long black hair that only made her blue eyes pop. Rachel had to admit, this woman was very attractive and very much Ross' type which made Rachel even more concerned. Rachel's eyes widened and her teeth clenched when she saw her laugh at one of Ross' lame jokes and twirl her hair around her finger. She was flirting with Ross. She then heard her introduce herself.

"I'm Brianna by the way."

"Oh right, I'm Ross."

Rachel cleared her throat trying to make her presence known.

"Oh and this is Rachel."

"Hi, its nice to meet you," Brianna said politely.

Rachel just looked at her, giving her a fake smile and nodded.

"And who's this little one?"

"This is our daughter Emma."

"Oh what a pretty name. Hi Emma."

"say hi Em."

Emma looked up from her puzzle when she heard Ross call her name She looked at the woman and Emma was very uninterested in this woman but did what her father asked

"Hi"

She then looked back down, trying to figure out the rest of her puzzle

"Oh she is adorable. She looks just like your wife."

Ross started laughing which offended Rachel a little bit.

"Oh no, Rachel and I aren't together."

"oh……" Brianna said smiling happily.

Rachel whipped her head to the side and stared at him. She couldn't believe he just let that out in the open. Well, sure they aren't together but he didn't have to be so blatant about it she thought. Was he actually interested in this woman, that he needed to tell her they weren't together. She then looked at Brianna. She couldn't believe she was flirting with him right in front of her as well as his daughter.

"Oh here sweetie, I think this piece goes in your puzzle," Brianna said to Emma sweetly.

Emma was about to take it from her to make her masterpiece complete when she heard her mother.

"Come here baby, let mommy help you with that."

Rachel picked Emma up and took the piece out of Brianna's hand. She placed Emma on her lap as well as the puzzle and helped Emma finish it, completely ignoring Brianna. Ross just looked at her strangely and Rachel knew it but it bothered her when Brianna was talking to her daughter. When the puzzle was finished Rachel held it in her hand out in front of them.

"Oh, Emma you did such a good job sweetheart," she gushed kissing her hair.

"Great job princess"

"Tank you mommy, tank you daddy."

"You're welcome."

Ross leaned towards her and Emma did the same giving him the kiss on the lips. Rachel smiled at them but it soon faded when Brianna was calling for Ross' attention. Ross once again began talking to her and Rachel just held her baby close to her chest kissing the top of her head, observing the two.

It was finally time for Ross to see the doctor when they heard his name being called by the nurse.

"it's about time," Rachel mumbled under her breath.

She held Emma in her arms and waited for Ross to stand up with his crutches. Brianna stood up as well and said goodbye to Rachel and Emma and then took her time saying goodbye to Ross. Rachel was standing near the door to enter the hallway to the doctor's office when she saw Brianna slip, what looked like a piece of paper into Ross' hand. Ross just smiled at her and nodded his head before he walked towards Rachel.

"Everything okay?" she asked curiously

"Yep. Come on."

As they followed the nurse down the hallway Ross began talking.

"So, Brianna was nice huh?"

"Mmhm," was all Rachel could say as she looked at a smiling Ross as she tried swallowing the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: thanks again guys for your reviews!!! Again, sorry it takes me so long to update this story but I finally have an update. Just want it to be known that there isn't going to be many more chapters to this story, another 3 or 4 but maybe more. I'm not sure yet.**

The nurse led the three of them down the hallway to the last room on the right.

"The doctor will be with you in a moment."

"okay, thank you," Ross said politely.

Ross took a seat on the examination table as Rachel tried making herself comfortable on the nearby chair with Emma on her lap. Ross and Rachel both remained silent with Rachel taking the time to think about what just took place. As she ran her fingers through her baby's hair she couldn't stop thinking about Brianna and how much it bothered seeing Ross talking to her. Why did it bother her so much? She didn't have too much time to contemplate that thought when an older gentleman entered the room.

"Hello, Mr. Geller. I'm Dr. Peters," he greeted.

"Please, call me Ross and this is Rachel," he said acknowledging her presence to the doctor.

"Hello, Rachel. It's nice to me you."

"You too, doctor," she replied shaking his hand.

"and who's this adorable little girl?"

"This is our daughter Emma," Rachel answered, "say, hi baby."

"Hi," Emma said quietly, soon burying her face in her mother's chest.

"She's just being a little shy," Rachel told him as she rubbed Emma's back up and down trying to comfort her.

"oh, that's okay." He then turned his attention back to Ross. "Your daughter's beautiful."

"Thank you. She takes just after her mother," he said, giving Rachel a small smile.

Immediately she felt her cheeks turn color and looked down slightly so Ross couldn't see her blush. Rachel stayed put, stroking Emma's back as the doctor resumed talking to Ross.

"so, you're here today to take out your stitches so why don't we just get started."

"sounds good to me."

"According to your chart, apart from your forehead you have stitches on your upper chest as well. If you could, just take off your shirt and I'll be back in a minute."

"okay"

Ross and Rachel watched as the doctor exited the room, closing the door behind him. Ross still wasn't great at undressing himself and she knew he needed the help.

"Emma, stay here while I help daddy."

Emma just nodded her head while her mother sat her on the chair. Rachel knew she would stay there and listen. She was so thankful she was such a good baby. She walked over to where Ross was sitting and watched as Ross winced in pain as he tried lifting his shirt.

"Need some help?"

Ross looked up at her slightly embarrassed. He hated the fact that he still couldn't do this for himself

"yeah….thanks," he said softly. "I just hate that you always have to do this for me. I'm a grown man."

"Ross, it's fine. You're still in a lot of pain from your ribs. It's understandable."

Ross just shook his head in aggravation as he took his arms out of the armholes and Rachel lifted the shirt off his body. She placed his shirt next to him and sent him a warm smile.

"thank you."

"you're welcome," she told him, not even realizing she was rubbing his leg as she spoke.

They soon heard a knock on the door and in walked the doctor once more.

"Everything okay in here?"

Becoming aware of where her hand was, she quickly removed it form his leg bringing it to her side as they both shook their head yes.

"I just can't wait to get these things out. They're itching like crazy."

"well let's not make you wait any longer"

The doctor gathered everything that was needed to remove the stitches and was soon ready to begin. Just by the way Ross' simple actions of clearing his throat and rubbing his hands up and down his legs she knew he was nervous but was trying to hide it. He never liked the doctors especially when needles were involved. Thank god this trip didn't require any. Rachel remained standing next to Ross, a hand resting on the examination table as her eyes wandered to Emma making sure she was alright. To her surprise she suddenly felt Ross grab for her hand that was next to him. She looked up and saw the slight fear as the doctor was just about to take the stitches from his chest out.

"Ross."

When he heard his name escape her lips he turned his head to look at her and was met with an angelic smile. He returned a smile and without warning clenched her hand tightly in his when he felt the doctor take the first few stitches out. Rachel never let her eyes leave his and mouthed 'it's okay' to him so the doctor couldn't hear. She adjusted her hand in his grip, so she was now holding onto his keeping it in hers until all the stitches were removed from his chest.

"how are you doing Ross?"

Ross turned his head finally taring his eyes away from Rachel's to look at the doctor.

"I'm fine."

"Good. Now if you can just please close your eyes, I am going to remove the ones from your forehead."

Ross did what he was told and smiled when he felt Rachel squeeze his hand letting him know she was still there. As the stitches were being taken out, Rachel stroked his hand with her thumb trying to comfort Ross and it was working. Ross didn't even feel what the doctor was doing. He was too busy concentrating on the feeling of Rachel stroking his hand, so much so he didn't even realize the doctor finished removing his stitches

"Ross? Ross? Ross?"

He shook his head and opened his eyes when he heard his name being called for the third time.

"You're all done," she told him smiling.

She reluctantly let go of his hand as they both listened to what the doctor was telling them. He gave them some cream that would need to be applied to his wounds everyday to minimize scaring. While the doctor continued to talk to Ross, Rachel walked over to Emma and put her jacket on as they were getting ready to leave soon. She lifted her in her arms, balancing her on her hip as she walked back over to the men. With a few final words exchanged the doctor left leaving them amongst themselves once again.

"Are you okay?"

"yeah, I'm fine. I feel so much better with them out."

"That's good."

"So how does it look?"

She walked in front of him, with Emma still in her arms, and examined his wounds. If she was being honest they looked pretty bad.

"It looks……..okay."

Ross let out a slight chuckle.

"Well by judging from our daughters face, I'm going to go with it looks pretty bad."

Rachel looked at Emma and saw the look of disgust spread across her child's face and couldn't help but laugh.

"Emma? What's with that face, silly girl?" Rachel asked still laughing

"Boo boo's yucky, daddy still pity," she informed them.

Ross and Rachel couldn't help but laugh at their daughter's honesty and the fact that she just referenced her father as being pretty.

"pretty, huh?" Ross said still laughing.

"Sweetie, daddy's handsome not pretty," Rachel corrected her.

Emma just laughed at her mother and shook her head no

"pity," she told them once more.

"well Emma, mommy thinks I'm handsome," he said with a sly grin, eyeing Rachel.

"daddy? Mommy pity?" she said, asking what her father thought.

Rachel just stared at him waiting to hear his answer. Ross just looked at Emma and replied.

"Yes." He then looked over to Rachel and continued, "your mommy is very pretty".

Rachel tried to hide her smile and then whispered something into Emma's ear. Emma just shook her head and extending her body slightly in her father's direction. She then gave him a big kiss on the lips. Ross smiled knowing Rachel told him to give him a kiss. Ross then whispered the same thing to Emma and she too was soon giving her mother a kiss on the lips.

"oh thank you baby," she said kissing Emma's hair.

"home, mommy?"

"yes Em, we're going home now."

She carefully lowered Emma from her arms and made her stand on the ground next to her. Just as before, Rachel had to help Ross with his shirt. Once that was on, Ross stood grabbing for his crutches all three of them ready to leave the doctor's.

"oh wait Rach. I need to give that slip to the receptionist."

She watched him as he stuck his hand in his front pocket taking the yellow slip from his pants not realizing a smaller piece of paper fell from his jeans and onto the floor. This however didn't go unnoticed by Emma. Her tiny body bent over, picking up the piece of paper from the ground. She looked up at her father and tugged on the bottom of his pants getting his attention.

"daddy"

Ross looked down and smiled at her when he heard her calling for him. He saw her raise her hand to him and gave him the piece of paper. Ross had a look of confusion spread across his face when she first handed it to him but soon realized what it was and smiled

"thank you baby." He stuck it back in his pocket and looked at Rachel. "don't want to lose that. It's Brianna's number."

Rachel felt a sting of jealousy spread across her entire body. She tried giving him a small smile and quickly looked down, staring at the top of Emma's head.

"no, you wouldn't want to lose that," she said quietly. "You ready to go sweetheart," she said addressing Emma, trying to change the subject.

Emma shook her head up and down and quickly took her mother's hand in her own, smiling happy as she walked in between her mother and father. Her mother had a very different expression on her face, one of hurt and sadness and she was feeling something she hasn't felt in a long time.

Rachel soon came strolling into Central Perk her mind being taken over with her unsettling thoughts of Ross and Brianna. She immediately went over to the counter smiling politely at Gunther.

"Hi Gunther. Can I please have a small latte and a chocolate chip muffin to go?"

Gunther smiled awkwardly at her and soon went running off fetching her order. Rachel always thought he was a strange one but sweet nonetheless.

"hey Rach!"

Rachel turned her head around when she heard the familiar voice. She didn't even see Phoebe there when she walked in.

"oh hey, Pheebs," she said trying to be as cheerful as her blonde friend as she took a seat beside her on the infamous orange couch.

"Where's Emma?"

"oh, my mother picked her up a little earlier after me and Ross got home from the doctors. She wanted to spend some time with her."

"I forgot Ross had his appointment today. How did everything go?"

"it was fine. He got all his stitches out and he just has to put some medication on to prevent scaring," she explained.

"that's good."

"yeah," she said leaning back on the couch letting out a deep breath.

"hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm great and so is Ross," she said sitting back up. "I mean he got something that we weren't even waiting for at the doctors, a future ex-wife," she exclaimed starting to get angry.

"what are you talking about?"

"well, while we were in the waiting room this woman just started flirting with him right in front of me and Emma."

"Well did she know you guys weren't together?"

"oh yes, Ross made that very clear," Rachel said getting madder by the second as she thought about Ross telling Brianna how they in fact were not together.

"this sounds a little too familiar," Phoebe said laughing slightly.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"this sounds just like the time you were yelling about that girl from the baby store hitting on Ross."

"She was!"

"Oh, and by the way, Slut's 'R' Us is not a real place."

"Phoebe…." Rachel said rolling her eyes at her

"Rach, it's very simple. You were jealous than and you're jealous now," Phoebe told her flat out.

"I am NOT jealous. I just thought it was very disrespectful for this woman to be hitting on Ross with his daughter in the room. I mean she gave him her number!"

"Rach, Emma doesn't know any difference. Tell me, how did you feel when you saw them hitting it off and when she gave him her number."

"I don't know," she said softly.

"yes you do. Rachel, do you want to be with Ross?"

"I…..I don't…."

"Rachel here is your latte and muffin."

Rachel turned to look at the platinum blonde beside her.

"oh thank you Gunther."

When he left Rachel kept her eyes on her coffee and knew Phoebe's eyes were burning into her waiting for a response. Rachel knew the answer to that question.

"okay, Pheebs, I'm going to go. I was getting the muffin for Ross."

"Rachel…."

"bye Pheebs. Talk to you tomorrow."

She left as fast as she could before Phoebe got another chance to ask the question again. Thank god for Gunther and his impeccable timing.

She walked into Ross' apartment some minutes later to find him in the exact same

position she left him in which made her laugh. On the couch watching some documentary about dinosaurs. Ross turned his head to look at her when she walked in.

"hey!"

"hey, I got you your muffin," She told him, lifting the white bag into the air which contained his treat.

"oh thanks Rach! I just have to go to the bathroom and than I'll eat it. Can you just put it on the table for me?"

"sure."

She watched him as he carefully stood up taking a hold of his crutches making his way to the bathroom. She placed the bag on the living room table just like he asked. Sitting back on the couch she took this time to think about her conversation with Phoebe. As much as she hated to admit it to herself she knew she was jealous. But to be fair she was always a little jealous when Ross was dating someone or flirting with another woman, however what she felt all those times was something different to what she was feeling now. Now it actually pained her to think about and she didn't like it one bit. As she was going over thoughts in her head she suddenly realized the table was a mess. There were crumbled papers all over it. Rachel just rolled her eyes at Ross for making this kind of a mess in less than 20 minutes. Her thoughts would have to wait as she started cleaning up the table. She gathered all the little pieces of crumbled papers in her hand. She dropped one on the floor and when she went to pick it up she saw a familiar name on it.

Brianna

Curiousity took the best of her and soon found herself un-crumbling the piece the paper anxiously waiting to see if this is what she thought it was. She smiled and relief soon washed over her when she saw what it was. It was the same paper that Brianna gave to Ross with her telephone number on it. He was throwing it away.

"Rach before I forget, your mom called and she asked if Emma could stay the night. I told her it was fine and she said she would drop her off in the morning," he told her as he walked back over to her.

"okay, that's fine," she said her back still facing him.

"what are you doing?"

"I was just cleaning up in here. You're such a pig," she said teasing him as she turned around.

"well it's a good thing you're here to clean up my messes."

"yeah what would you do without me?"

"I don't know and I don't want to find out," he said giving her a warm smile.

Rachel looked down embarrassed over what he just said. He always made her feel so needed and she loved that.

"well don't piss me off and you won't have to find out," she said trying to joke with him so he wouldn't see her blushing. "and you don't need any of these papers, right? Cause I'm going to throw them out."

She really only asked this because she wanted to make sure he really didn't want her phone number.

"yeah, you can throw it all away. Thanks"

"are you sure? Even Brianna's phone number?" she asked waving the paper in her hand.

She didn't even know what she just asked that and she was hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

"yeah, I don't need it. I'm not planning on calling her." He told her taking a seat back on the couch

Rachel was intrigued and didn't really care about throwing anything away so she sat next to him on the couch.

"what do you mean? At the doctors you said you didn't want to lose it."

"yeah I know, but I started thinking and I just don't see me dating anyone right now. And besides I don't know how they would feel if they found out you were living here and taking care of me and I would much rather have you be here than them."

Rachel smiled at him, gently placing her hand on his knee squeezing it affectionately. They found themselves staring at each other for some minutes in silence until Ross cleared his throat making it known to Rachel he was nervous and she liked it.

"since Emma is staying at my mom's do you want to just stay here tonight and watch a movie or something?"

"ok."

"ok. I'm just going to change into my pajamas," she said grabbing the papers once again in her hands so she can throw them away.

"Rach, it's not even 7 o'clock."

"yeah so, I can't be comfortable while watching our movies," she said arching an eyebrow 'Ill be right back."

"ok," he laughed at her as she walked away finally taking a bite out of his muffin.

Rachel returned some time later in a t-shirt, pajama bottoms and her hair thrown up in a messy ponytail. Ross turned his head back to look at her as she entered the room. He was blown away by what he saw. She was dressed so simply yet she looked gorgeous especially in the shirt she was wearing.

"wow," he let out and immediately became embarrassed.

"what?"

"nothing, you just look great."

"thanks," she said softly as she tucked some fallen hair behind her ear.

"I can't…I can't believe you still have that shirt," he said in disbelief.

She looked down at her Frankie Say Relax shirt and smiled.

"I told you I loved it. It reminds me of you, I could never get rid of it and thank you for giving it back to me."

Ross looked down as he remembered that day she gave him back all his stuff, it broke his heart. It was that day that he realized she actually wanted to move on and he just couldn't understand it cause he felt in his heart they were going to get back together again.

"you're welcome and I'm glad you kept it."

"like I said it reminds me of you."

"I must say it looks A LOT better on you than it did on me."

"yeah, I have to agree with you on that one. So what movie should we watch first?"

"I was thinking Weekend at Bernie's," he said with a sly grin.

"oh you know your audience," she said laughing.

She got up and put the movie into the DVD player and relaxed back on the couch next to Ross.

"god, remember how I used to make us watch this all the time while we were dating?"

"yeah but most of the time we weren't really watching it. We were busy doing other things," he said hooking an eyebrow.

"why does it seem like you only remember THAT part of our relationship," she said laughing at him.

"now you know that's not true."

"yeah I know, but that part was pretty amazing."

"yeah, it was. Do you…..do you ever think of our relationship from when we where dating?"

"I do. Ross, that was one of the best times of my life and I will never forget it or regret any of our time together. If I'm being honest, whenever I am in a relationship I always find myself comparing it to ours and there really is nothing to compare because what me and you had was special."

"Nothing compares to what I shared with you either," he told her sincerely grabbing her hand in his.

Rachel just nodded her head and turned her attention to the television smiling as she felt his hand still holding hers. They never really talked like this about their relationship in the past and she was glad they did. It meant a lot to her to hear him say what he did. They stayed silent for the time being as the movie's opening credits appeared on the screen.

As the movie progressed Ross and Rachel's hand detangled and Rachel had a blanket wrapped around her body.

"hey, you mind sharing? It's getting chilly over here."

"sure," she said laughing at his corny smile.

She moved closer to him on the couch and threw the blanket over his body as well.

"thanks."

"you're welcome," she replied moving a little bit closer so their bodies were touching.

As expected by the time the movie ended both were fast asleep on the couch. If you didn't know any better you would think the two of them where dating from the position they where sleeping in. Rachel practically had her entire body leaning into Ross with her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around his torso while Ross' hands were thrown around her body as well. Rachel began to stir when she heard the phone ringing but she was too lazy to even try to get up to answer it. When she opened her eyes she realized her head was on Ross' chest so she slowly picked her head up and looked up at Ross who was still sleeping. It was amazing how comfortable she felt in his arms, so safe and loved. She didn't want to disturb him and if she was being honest she really didn't want to get up and leave his embrace so she layed her head back on his chest. She just layed there for a while listening to his heart beat as he breathed quietly in and out. Closing her eyes she slowly drifted off back to sleep but before she was out she felt him tighten his arms around her which only left a smile on her face.

Even though they weren't together, for right now there was no harm in pretending.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here's the next update. I hope you guys are still enjoying this story and thanks again for reading : )**

"Rach! Emma is hogging all the red blocks!" Joey whined like a little boy.

"Well, I guess she learned her sharing from you. Maybe from now on you will share some of those grapes."

Ross let out a slight chuckle and Rachel looked over at him and shared in the laughter. Joey pouted, crossing his arms over his chest like a child as he sat on the floor building with the toddler. Emma loved her new building blocks she got as a present for Christmas from her doting parents and Joey may have liked them a little too much as well.

"Ems, why don't you give one of your red blocks to Uncle Joey."

Emma turned around to look at her father who was smiling at her. She then grabbed one of her blocks she was not using and handed it to her uncle looking at him with her big blue eyes.

"Thanks Emma!"

Joey took the block from her tiny hands and smiled happily as he continued to work on his masterpiece.

"What a good girl you are sharing with Uncle Joey," Rachel praised her daughter.

Emma smiled a big smile knowing she did a job well done.

"I think Joey likes those blocks more than Emma," Ross whispered over to Rachel.

"I know, right. I think we should buy him some for his birthday," she joked.

They laughed with each other once again as they sat cozily on Monica and Chandler's couch side by side. The whole gang just celebrated Christmas a few days ago and now tomorrow was New Years Eve. Monica was throwing her annual New Years Eve party tomorrow night and now everyone was relaxing in the living room. Rachel tugged on the blanket she was sharing with Ross securing it around her body.

"Rach, are you cold? Here have more of the blanket," he told her, moving some of the blanket off himself and onto her.

"No Ross. I'm fine," she assured him giving his part of the blanket back to him.

Even though she wouldn't admit it to him, she was still a bit cold so she simply scooted closer to him on the couch for some extra warmth. That was better than a blanket anyway. Phoebe saw what Rachel just did and smiled to herself not speaking a word. She watched as the two of them kept talking to one another almost ignoring their other friends in the room. It seemed like they were in their own little world. They were brought out of their pleasant conversation when they heard their baby cough. They both looked at her and saw her rubbing her eye with a balled up fist looking like she was about to fall asleep.

"Oh sweetheart, come sit with mommy."

Emma slowly got up and took the few steps it took to get to her mother on the couch. Rachel scooped her up in her arms and placed her on her lap, giving her a soft kiss on her hair. She cradled her baby in her arms as Emma laid against Rachel with her head resting on her mommy's chest. Emma closed her eyes and nibbled on her thumb as Rachel put the blanket over her as well and stroked her hair and forehead. She suddenly looked at Ross.

"Ross, I think Emma has a fever," she said with worry in her voice.

"What?!" he asked sitting up, placing his hand on Emma's back immediately rubbing it up and down.

Everyone worried about what Rachel just said, stood up and surrounded them by the couch. It was never a good thing when baby of Emma's age had a fever.

"Oh baby, are you feeling okay?" she asked kissing her head repeatedly, rocking her back and forth.

Emma didn't say or do anything, just continued to lay on Rachel.

"She actually looks a bit flushed, we should probably take her home," he said, brushing her bangs away from her face.

"Yeah that's a good idea," she agreed. She then looked up at Monica. "Mon, sweetie, can you go get me Emma's coat please."

"Of course."

"You're going to be okay baby," Rachel whispered in the Emma's ear.

Monica returned with her coat and Rachel carefully put it on Emma. Ross and Rachel stood up with Emma still in Rachel's arms.

"You know Rach, you can stay at my place tonight in your room if you want so you don't have to take her outside."

When Joey said this she looked at Ross and saw sadness spread across his face.

"Thanks Joe but I'm going to go with Ross. This is the first time Emma has a fever and I think it's better if we're with Ross."

"Are you sure Rach? I mean it's okay if you stay there for the night, you know for Emma," Ross told her trying to hide his disappointment if she changed her mind.

"No it's fine. Come on, lets go."

They walked to the door saying good bye to their friends.

"Okay, you guys call us if you need anything."

"We will Mon and we'll see you tomorrow at the party. I'm sure Emma will be fine in the morning, right Ems" she cooed kissing her again on the hair.

"Bye you guys."

* * *

When Ross and Rachel got home they immediately put Emma in bed.

"What's her temperature?" Ross asked.

Rachel took the thermometer in her hands, "It's 99.8. I knew she had a fever."

Rachel laid down next to her, resting on her side as she ran a hand across Emma's forehead and into her hair. Ross took a seat next to Emma and just looked at his baby.

"She's going to be fine Rach. I'm sure she has a slight fever since she's teething."

"Yeah, I know but I always get worried when there is something wrong with her even if it's the littlest thing."

"I know, that's what makes you an amazing mother."

She smiled at him and then kissed Emma on the forehead.

"But I have to say, I'm a little surprised you haven't called her doctor yet," he said laughing at her.

"Haha very funny but I did, he just didn't answer."

"Rachel!"

"I'm kidding, I didn't call him. But I'm going to if her fever isn't down in the morning."

"okay, deal."

They both looked back down at their sleeping daughter.

"It's amazing how much she looks like you even when she's sleeping."

"You think so?" she asked with a big smile. She always loved when Ross said Emma was gorgeous and looked like her.

"She's all you Rachel. It looks like I didn't even take part in making her," Ross joked.

"Well I know for a fact you were there." They started laughing. "and you see how she is moving her mouth?"

Ross simply nodded.

"That means she's dreaming. You do the same thing when you're sleeping."

"I do?"

"All the time just like she's doing now. So to me, she looks like you," she said looking up at him. "and she has mastered the puppy eyes look. She definitely got that from you."

"Yeah, I remember someone else trying to master that look," he said referring to Rachel, "Too bad it never worked."

"Yes it did and you know it. Whenever I gave you that look you were mine," she said almost flirting with him.

"Okay, fine you're right but you were never able to do it as well as me." he told her raising an eyebrow.

"That may be true but this one does."

"Yeah are we in trouble when she gets older!"

"I know."

Silence filled the room once again, both just happy watching the breathing in and out of their angel but Ross suddenly broke the silence.

"Hey, thank you for coming back here tonight and not staying at Joeys," he whispered.

"No need to thank me. If there is something wrong with Emma I think her mother and father should be the one taking care of her. Besides it's nice to know you are only a room away," she grinned.

"Well it really means a lot to me to be here with her."

"Well, I'm glad you're here."

Rachel snuggled close to her daughter, laying her head on a pillow.

"I'll let you get some sleep. You come get me if you need me."

"I will."

"Goodnight princess. I love you," he whispered to Emma as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He then looked at Rachel who's face was right next to Emma's. His face was so close to hers and she smiled.

"Night Rach."

"Good night Ross."

Ross thought about kissing her forehead as well, something he had always done in the past but decided against it. A surge of disappointment spread through Rachel when she saw him walk towards the door. He looked back at her one more time.

"Night," and then he walked out the door.

* * *

Ross and Rachel were very relieved to wake up and find Emma's fever down significantly. She was much more upbeat but was still a bit fussy from her baby teeth making there way through her gums. They were all getting ready for the nights party as Rachel checked herself one more time in the mirror. She decided on a nice pair of black dress pants with a black fitted turtleneck. She blew out her bangs, sweeping them to the side across her forehead, as long locks fell over her shoulders in loose curls.

Emma was keeping herself entertained with a children's book flipping through the pages and only looking at the pictures. Rachel dressed her in a pretty white dress with a ribbon that tied around her waist.

"Emma, let me do your hair," she addressed her daughter.

Emma put the book on the bed and crawled over on the other side of the bed so she can get to her mother. She stood up and Rachel began running her fingers though Emma's hair about to put it up in pig tails. Emma started to play with the end of Rachel's hair tangling it in her fingers.

"Emma hair like mommy's."

"You want me to do your hair like mine sweetie?"

Emma just nodded her head up and down smiling. Rachel kissed her forehead before grabbing the baby brush and brushed her bangs to the side just like hers. Emma already had natural baby curls so Rachel curled her fingers around them making them more noticeable. Her hair was getting so long Rachel thought, it was already slightly past her shoulders. Once Rachel was done she lifted her in her arms and carried her over to the mirror.

"What do you think?"

Emma looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled

"we pitty mommy."

"You are beautiful Emma. Oh my baby," she whispered kissing her on the cheek.

They soon heard a knock on the door and saw Ross peeking his head in.

"Are you girls all set?"

"Just about, you can come in."

Ross came in with crutches in hand and walked over to the bed. Rachel lowered Emma back on to the bed so she can go see Ross.

"Oh my god Emma, you look so pretty in your dress and your hair. You look just like mommy."

"I know, daddy," she giggled.

Rachel just watched as Ross gushed over their daughter and soon took notice of his appearance. He cleaned up well. He had on black slacks with an ocean blue sweater that fit his body perfectly. She admired the way you could see his muscles through his shirt accidentally letting a 'wow' escape her lips.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,…you ummm….clean up good," she said, hoping he couldn't see her blush from the slight embarrassment she was suffering over the fact he heard that accidental slip.

"Oh well thanks. So do you," he said smiling.

Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red when she saw him eyeing her up and down. He still had that affect on her.

"Daddy, pawty now?"

"Yes sweetie, we are going to the party now. You ready Rach?"

"Yep, lead the way Geller!"

* * *

Everyone was having a great time at the party and it was now 5 minutes to midnight. Rachel decided now was a good time to check on Emma who has been sleeping soundly in Rachel's old bedroom. She didn't really care about watching Dick Clark count down to the new year especially when she didn't have anyone to share that New Year kiss with. She would much rather watch her daughter sleeping then the ball dropping in New York City. She quietly walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed next to a sleeping Emma.

"Hey, where's Rachel?"

"Oh I think she went to check on Emma," Chandler told him.

He maneuvered his way through all the people and finally got to the door of Rachel's old bedroom. When Rachel heard the door open she looked up from Emma to see who was entering the room.

"Need some company?"

Rachel smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Come sit," she said patting the seat next the her.

"So what are you doing in here?" Ross asked as he took a seat on the bed.

"I don't know," she said shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I would rather bring in the new year with her," she said eyeing Emma, "then everyone out there."

"Yeah, but did you forget I was part of the everyone out there," he teased.

"But you're in here now," she whispered looking right in his eyes, "with us."

"Do you mind if I stay in here?"

"Not at all."

They both gazed down at Emma as they heard all their friends counting down. There was less than a minute to go. Their hearts were beating faster as the numbers got lower and lower. There they were, alone in a bedroom, neither knowing what was going to happen when the clock struck midnight, now in a matter of 5 seconds.

They soon heard the cheers of Happy New Year echo around the apartment.

"Happy New Year Rachel" he softly whispered to her.

"You too."

The noise coming from the next room soon disappeared from both their ears and she was surprised she couldn't hear her heart beating in her chest. Her eyes were soon fixated on his mouth and Ross took notice. The setting was prefect and he couldn't resist it any longer. They were finally surrendering to the sexual tension between them, giving into temptation. He slowly leaned in as Rachel closed her eyes waiting for his lips to brush against hers and finally it happened.

Her lips were so soft as he took them in between his just as he always remembered them. It was amazing how perfectly their lips fit together, their mouths moving in perfect sync. The kiss was new yet familiar as they were reacquainted with the others lips, engaging in a few gentle pecks. His lips finally left hers as they both breathed in the same air. She felt his hot breath against her mouth, his lips still hovering above hers.

She didn't want this moment to end just yet so she placed her hands on his cheeks, pulling him to her once again. As if by instinct his hands immediately went to her waist as she cupped his cheeks in her hands directing the kiss. They yearned for the others lips, craved the other's sweet taste.

They needed one another.

Rachel was soon licking Ross' lips, begging for an entrance which he gave her. It didn't take long for their tongues to explore the inside of the other's mouth, tasting every corner. Her hands were soon in his hair as she sucked on his bottom lip and he nibbled on her top. The kiss grew deeper and deeper both knowing they weren't able to stop. It just felt too good.

It felt right.

Kissing Ross always felt right. She hasn't experienced this sensation since the last time she kissed him the night Emma was born. Nobody kissed like Ross did, making her head spin and leaving her breathless.

He was drunk on her. Drunk on her taste and the quiet moans she tried to suppress as he brought his hands in her hair. She was like a drug and he was the addict and he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop kissing her, he didn't want to stop kissing her.

They both slowed down the pace of the kiss just enjoying the other's lips once again. From all the noise going on outside, Emma began stirring in her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and found her parents on the bed next to her.

"Daddy? What you doin' to mommy?" she whispered still half asleep.

At the sound of Emma's voice they immediately broke apart. They were both breathing extremely heavy after sharing such an intense kiss. Rachel searched in Ross' eyes for an answer. Ross looked down at his sleepy daughter and brushed some hair away from her eyes.

"I was just giving mommy her New Year's kiss and you're about to get yours."

He kissed her forehead softly and then her cheek. Emma was satisfied with that answer.

"Happy New Year's princess."

Rachel then bent down to give Emma a kiss as well.

"Happy New Years baby. It's time to go back to sleep," she whispered, running her fingers through Emma's hair.

"Mommy," she cried tugging on Rachel's arm.

Rachel knew that meant she wanted her to lay next to her. She crawled over Emma's body and cuddled next to her as she faced Ross. Emma buried her face in Rachel's chest as she stroked the baby's back.

"Shhhh…." she cooed as she looked at Ross.

Emma's eyes slowly closed and she was back to sleep within minutes. Rachel kept her arm around Emma and Ross soon grabbed her hand in his. He squeezed it affectionately as he stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. She just smiled at him and no words were spoken between them.

Neither of them knew it but both were wondering the same thing.

Was the kiss they just shared them giving into a moment because it was the New Year or was this kiss something more?


End file.
